Canadian restaurant chain, Tim Hortons, has today (November 16) officially opened its doors to the public for the first time in Gloucester.

The brand's first restaurant and drive-thru in the South West, is now welcoming customers with coffee, freshly baked donuts and hot meals from 6am until midnight, seven days a week.

The restaurant, at Eastern Avenue Retail Park, celebrated its launch by gifting the first drive-thru and restaurant customers free coffee, every day for the whole year - worth £3,100.

The first of the two prizes was claimed by Graham Phillips, a local marketing manager, who was first in the drive-thru queue at 13:56 yesterday - queuing for around 17 hours to make sure he got his hands on the prize! Kyle Faria, an ex-ski instructor, won the second Tim Hortons VIP card, having camped outside the entrance since 16:20, equipped with a camping chair, a sleeping bag and The Hunger Games book.

Customers in Gloucester can now enjoy Timbits, iced capps and Tim's crispy chicken sandwich, as well as beef burgers, hot dogs, and lattice fries.

The brand has also launched its limited edition festive menu today, so Gloucester customers can be among the first to try its new Snowball Surprise Deluxe Donut, Christmas Crispy Chicken and the Rudolph the Reindeer Donut. The festive menu also includes seasonal hot drinks.

To celebrate the opening, the brand will run a month of giveaways, including free drinks and donuts as well as exclusive deals. Promotions will be available to anyone who activates a Tim Hortons digital card.

Kevin Hydes, chief commercial officer of Tim Hortons franchise in the UK, said: "Our fans have been waiting patiently for our doors to open in Gloucester, so welcoming our first customers this morning was a special moment for Tim Hortons.

"It's our first opening in the South West and we've already had customers travelling from all over the region to get their hands on our Canadian charm.

"Our dedicated team have been training hard behind the scenes to ensure every customer has the quality experience, we're so well known for and we cannot wait to welcome each and every guest through the door, morning noon and night."