Two men arrived at a McDonald's drive-thru on a horse and cart but were turned away due to health and safety concerns.
The incident at the Western Links branch of McDonald's in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, was filmed by Jake Sweet. The 24-year-old had stopped to enjoy a Chicken Legend Meal with cheeseburger when the horse pulling the cart trotted past him and the men tried to place an order.
But the two men were apparently turned away due to "not being in a proper vehicle" and a tense stand-off began when the customers started asking to file a complaint, reports Wales Online. Jake claims when they asked to do this, the branch manager threatened to call the police - in what some social media users suggested was a 'mis-carriage of justice'. Admitting defeat, he said the duo apologised to those in the queue behind them and then left looking for a new lunch stop.
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Content creator Jake, who was with girlfriend Shauni, shared the footage on Tiktok to his 10 million followers where it clocked up more than 48,000 likes and comments. Jake, from Weston-super-Mare, said: "It's not something you see every day. The horse and cart pulled in and obviously we thought it was really interesting so started filming - it was impeccable timing.
"They came into the spot next to us and ordered at the tannoy, then a member of staff came out and said 'you can't order here, your vehicle isn't a vehicle'. You could clearly tell the two guys were annoyed but they were being reasonable with it and trying to give a valid argument.
"They were more trying to convince the Mcdonald's staff that the horse and cart is the original vehicle, and I kind of see where they're coming from. While the guys were trying to put up a decent argument I think they knew they were getting nowhere. First they were at the ordering window, who were having none of it and shut the window.
"Then they tried the collection window, asked for a complaint form and one of the managers came out. The management threatened to call the police.
"I don't think they were worked up or anything, it was probably just a scare tactic to get them to move on as quickly as possible. Obviously it's pretty uncommon but there are people who take a horse and cart everywhere - I'd have thought that McDonald's would have served them."
Footage taken by Jake shows the duo on a horse and cart joining the orderly queue of cars. They can be seen being approached by a member of staff and apparently told they would not be served.
When the duo then rode up to the collection window and asked to file a formal complaint, the branch manager told them they would be calling the police if they didn't leave. Jake said the guys responded "really well" to the predicament, apologising to others in the queue behind them before driving off.
When Jake and Shauni were driving home, they spotted the pair again, drove alongside them and gave them a spare cheeseburger they picked up. Jake said: "Both of the guys have been in contact with me since and were quite grateful that I'd taken the time to film their experience of it. Personally I'd probably want McDonald's to consider changing their policy, but I don't think this will affect them massively in their day-to-day business - they seem to be doing quite well."
A McDonald's spokesman said: "Our drive-thru lanes are custom built for motor cars, vans, trucks and road-worthy mobility scooters. The health and safety of our customers and employees is our top priority and for this reason we are unable to serve pedestrians, bicycle riders, non road-worthy mobility scooters, horse riders or any horse-drawn vehicles through the Drive-thru lane."
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