Subway is giving away free sandwiches this week - here's how to get one

Sandwich stalwart Subway is giving away free sandwiches this week in selected branches around the UK.

The fast-food franchise is trialling three new panini-style SubMelts that all incorporate melted cheese for a hot and tasty snack.

Made using specially developed recipes, the three footlong subs include the Philly Cheesesteak SubMelt, which consists of Philly-style steak, melted double cheese, peppers, onions and Chipotle Southwest Sauce; Americano Pizza SubMelt, featuring marinara sauce, pepperoni, salami, smoked ham, double cheese, peppers and onions; and, the Bombay Tikka SubMelt, containing chicken breast coated in Indian spices, double cheese, peppers, onions, Sweet Onion Relish and garlic aioli.

The sandwiches will be restricted to one free SubMelt per person while stocks last and will be available between 3-5pm on Wednesday 16, Thursday 17 and Friday 18 March in the following stores:

The gargantuan retailer, which overtook McDonald’s in 2011 to become the world’s largest fast-food chain, is one of the few remaining global brands to keep operations open in Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Apple, Starbucks, Apple, Visa, Spotify, Nike, Adidas, Zara and H&M are just a handful of the hundreds of major brands that have ceased trading in the country due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

However, Subway - which has around 446 restaurants across Russia - released a statement claiming that its Russian branches are owned by local franchises.

“We don’t directly control these independent franchisees and their restaurants,” it reads.

Brands such as Burger King and Starbucks also do not directly operate in Russian shops, but have licensed and franchised operations, all of which have been halted.

Instead, Subway has pledged to donate profits from Russian operations “to humanitarian efforts supporting Ukrainians who have been affected by the war.”