Restaurant chain Pizza Hut has announced that thousands of its locations in the US will now stay open until midnight or later.

The restaurant brand noted some locations will be open as late as 2am.

Pizza Hut US chief operating officer Chequan Lewis said: “We saw a clear need from our guests to satisfy their cravings for Pizza Hut late at night. So, we decided to meet them where they are by keeping our doors open longer.

“We're excited to provide our full menu for delivery or carryout well into the late hours, making it more convenient than ever to enjoy Pizza Hut, no matter the time. It's all about enhancing the dining experience and ensuring that our guests can savour their favourite flavours whenever they please.”

The restaurant brand hopes that the decision to extend its operational hours will help it better cater for the dining habits of younger customers.

The company added that by leveraging its partnerships with third-party food delivery platforms, it will be able to expand customers' accessibility and unlock the ability to service customers with ease.

In order to optimise the delivery-specific operations, Pizza Hut is using Dragontail technology to support the goal that each menu item is delivered hot and fresh to its customers.

The brand currently operates more than 19,000 locations in over 100 countries.

In July this year, reports emerged that Pizza Hut plans to expand its footprint across smaller emerging markets in India.

This expansion will target markets across tier II and III cities, which currently account for nearly half of the restaurant’s business in the country.

By opening new stores in these emerging markets, Pizza Hut aims to access the already existing potential better. The number of stores to be opened was not disclosed.