Hamburger lover turned away from McDonald's

With the lockdown restrictions in the UK easing somewhat many non-essential shops have been allowed to reopen. So, naturally, this has pleased many people, who for months have had to endure many weeks of their favourite shops being shut. So, as you can imagine, for the masses - the reopening of McDonald's was one such chain that got thousands of people extremely excited. The grand reopening of McDonald's, as with a lot of shops, has been subjected to changes. Now McDonald's is only available for Drive Thru. OK, fair enough, makes sense. Go in your car (observing the speed limit) and pick up a Big Mac or Mcflurry. Happy days for many.

Enter fast food lover Mr David Smith, of West Hill, Bridliington, who was told by pedantic Macdonald's staff that his mobility scooter did not count as a vehicle and so could not use the fast food restaurant's Drive Thru.

An extremely disgruntled Mr Smith, 66, said: "They told me it's not a vehicle!" Further stating: "It's got lights, indicators, it's fully taxed and insured!" Mr Smith has had to use this mode of transport since having an operation on his knee and being told he couldn't drive a car for six months.

Before the pandemic struck, this man usually visited the Bridlington branch of McDonald's a couple of times a day week, and was keen to rekindle his old diet once the Drive Thru reopened. So, subsequently, he arrived very early on the day of re-opening to make sure he was first in line.

A fellow hamburger enthusiast saw a dejected Mr Smith being turned away and kindly offered to buy his food as part of his order, however, David Smith was too upset to accept and drove off. When he got home, though, Mr Smith was angered to find on the McDonald's website that - as he had thought - road-worthy mobility scooters are permitted to use McDonald's Drive Thrus!

On reading this he promptly jumped back on his mobility scooter and sped back to the restaurant but was again turned away by a security guard. "It's discrimination at its very worst," lamented a distraught Mr Smith.

A spokesperson for McDonald's said: "We apologise to this customer for the delay caused in using our Drive Thru. For everyone's safety, our restaurant team were checking that mobility scooters were permitted in the Drive Thru lane and, due to its road-going nature, in this case it was. Unfortunately, during this short delay the customer left, however we hope to welcome him back in the near future."

Demola, TCC