KFC is popular and in the news for all sorts of reasons. Here is something new. Recently, a teenager was turned away from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant by staff people who alleged that he was too young to buy a box of chicken.

At their local KFC in Manchester, Jake Butterworth, 13, went to buy food for himself and his younger brother Wade, eight. It was not long before the youngsters were told by staff that they were banned from getting the chicken.

Staff told the boys that they feared they would ‘throw food’ and ‘mess about’ if they were given the food in their restaurant.

Jake commented: ‘I was in complete shock. I only wanted a Mega Box but they wouldn’t let me. There were kids when I went in not eating anything and refusing to move.’

The shocked schoolboy from Failsworth, Greater Manchester did not lose courage and discussed the issue further. He spoke with the staff and told them that he had come in to buy the food with his younger brother and was not with the other kids.

But they still refused to serve him, because he was under 18.

The father of the children, Mike, 43, who is an engineer said that he had asked his sons to pop into the KFC restaurant to pick up the chicken for him because he was running late from work.

However, he was stunned when his boys said they had been refused a simple meal because they were underage.
He said: ‘What if Mcdonald’s started to turn kids away – it’s ridiculous.’ He expressed his annoyance at the whole situation.

A KFC spokesman later commented: ‘We are sorry to hear about Jake’s experience; however the restaurant staff have had to deal with a number of incidents of anti-social behaviour relating to unaccompanied young people over the past year.

‘This has forced them to make decisions like this on the spot.

‘We are currently working with the police and local council on how to best manage this, and we’d love to get in touch with Jake’s family personally to welcome them back into the restaurant for a meal on the house.’

We wonder how many times children have been refused food at such places as they come in with so much excitement and hunger and whether or not they should be refused.