McDonald’s branch imposes evening ban on teenagers

A McDonald’s branch in Fort William in the West Highlands has prohibited teenagers from entering the premises past 6pm to “mitigate anti-social behaviour”.

The ban will come into force on Saturday and will apply to under-18s in light of recent reports of “abusive behaviour towards staff”.

The fast food chain stressed it was a joint decision made with Police Scotland that “was not taken lightly”.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s said: “The safety and security of our people and our customers is our utmost priority, and our Fort William restaurant has introduced various measures to help mitigate the challenges of anti-social behaviour. This includes temporarily restricting the hours during which unaccompanied children can be served.

“This joint decision, alongside the Police, was not taken lightly and the restaurant team continues to work closely with groups in the local area to understand how they can be part of the solution.”

A post on Facebook from McDonald’s Fort William added: “Having tried various tactics and compromises with the culprits, we are left with no choice but to make a rule that effects all young people of Fort William, based on the actions of a few.”

The restaurant said it hopes to “revise this decision in future”.

Meanwhile, the UK boss of McDonald’s revealed the chain received up to two complaints of sexual harassment from staff members in its restaurants per week at a hearing in parliament held earlier this month.