A dad has been left horrified after finding a cloth wrapped in his McDonald 's meal.
Martin Holmes from Derry, Northern Ireland, and his family were left livid after his Saturday night trip to his favourite fast food chain took an unexpected turn.
The dad began handing out everybody's respective orders from the McDonalds' in Derry 's Waterside when he was left bewildered at the state of one of the orders.
Upon giving his seven-year-old son his chicken wrap, the father-of-two was left so disgusted at what he held in his hand.
In the sealed box in front of the dad was simply a folded dish cloth - with no food in sight.
Speaking about the horror, Martin said: "You don't mind when you're short a portion of chips or the sauces are missing. But this is another level.
"My son was sitting on my right and the minute he opened it, I saw the white material inside and I thought, 'What have they wrapped this in?'
"I couldn't believe it when I saw the dish cloth. Someone in the kitchen put this in the packet, sealed it up and put it out to go to a customer."
Martin's wife immediately decided to drive back to the chain and speak to the manager.
Martin said he was "very apologetic" - and even offered the family free food vouchers for the future.
The Derry dad added: "My wife said he was really apologetic and really sorry about it but ultimately somebody in his kitchen is taking the hand.
"From a health and safety point of view, it is pathetic.
"We were told the branch had recently undergone a health inspection and received five stars; which you would expect for a big name like McDonald's.
"This may be an isolated event but they can't be doing this and thinking it is normal, it is a different sphere.
"Someone has made the decision to fold the cloth neatly and place it into the packaging. I have never seen anything like it and never heard of anything similar before."
It has been revealed that the workers involved with the incident were identified and sent home.
Martin has added that he himself contacted Environmental Health, who reassured him the matter would be looked into and dealt with accordingly.
A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed it has followed up on this incident, adding: "The matter has been fully investigated with the food premises. Investigations are now complete and the complainant is satisfied with the outcome and with the Department’s response."
And a McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We sincerely apologise to this customer for their experience. At McDonald’s, we place great emphasis on quality control and we have a number of checks in place to ensure customer orders are correct and to our usual high standard.
"On this occasion, unfortunately, we have fallen well short of those standards. We understand the customer has been in contact with the restaurant team and the issue has been resolved.”
