A Perth McDonald’s restaurant has become the first in Scotland to ban under-18s in the evenings due to antisocial behaviour.
The fast food operators said the temporary restriction of access to unaccompanied under-18s after 7pm at the Dunkeld Road premises was “a last resort”, but felt it had been forced on them after a spate of incidents.
“To our knowledge, there are no other restaurants in Scotland with this policy in place,” said a spokesperson for McDonald’s.
“This restaurant has regrettably experienced recent issues with antisocial behaviour and this measure has been introduced as a last resort following repeated attempts to resolve the matter.
“This policy is under constant review and we hope to resolve these ongoing concerns to ensure that our customers and staff are not being affected by the behaviour of a handful of disruptive individuals.”
Local councillor Archie MacLellan said it was “disappointing” that the move was required but he said the finger should not necessarily be pointed at local youths.
“It is very disappointing that McDonald’s feel the need to do this,” he said.
“I do not wish to criticise them, they have to know the best way to run their business. It is sad we have anti-social behaviour of this magnitude at this time.
“There is a great deal of development happening in that area and Muirton is working hard to form a community council.
“There are a lot of good people working to improve the area and I am really sorry there has been anti-social behaviour of this nature.
“There is no certainty that the youths are coming from Muirton or North Muirton, it could well be people coming from other areas – we could do without that.
“I hope McDonald’s are keeping an eye of the situation and can lift the ban.
“Let’s not lose sight of all the good work happening in the area.”
The ban has also caused problems for legitimate customers with one 19-year-old local man asked to leave at 7pm.
The company admitted that this had been a mistake saying: “We’d like to apologise to the customer for this inconvenience.
“In this instance, the customer was over 18 and should not have been asked to leave the restaurant.”
