McDonald's apologises after Hayley found bugs in cheeseburger Happy Meal

IT WASN'T a happy meal when Hayley Parsons ordered a cheeseburger and fries from McDonald's on Monday morning.

Because the 18-year-old found bugs racing around the food she bought from the London Road branch in Thornton Heath.

The fast food chain has apologised, saying it appears its normal high standards of food quality have not been met in this "isolated incident".

Hayley, of Rickman Hill, Coulsdon, explained: "I had gone through the drive-thru and ordered a cheeseburger Happy Meal.

Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk

myprint-247

View details

Print voucher

Our heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.

Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk

Contact: 01858 468192

Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013

"I was driving and had a couple of chips without looking. When I got back I went to get the chips out and saw three or four bugs running around.

"I just chucked the box in the air. It made me feel really sick to the stomach."

Hayley had ordered the food at around 11.30am and was travelling back to her boyfriend Mason Weston's home, in Aurelia Road, Croydon.

She says she is "100 per cent" certain the insects would not have come from her car, which she says she always keeps clean and had its windows wound up for the whole journey.

After initially throwing the box into the air, she picked it up and spotted one of the bugs still inside, which she has kept as evidence.

Hayley insists she is not after compensation and simply wants to warn other customers of her experience.

On the same day she went back to the restaurant to complain.

She said: "All the staff wanted me to do was write my name and address in a diary.

"I don't want little kids opening a box and going through the same thing as me."

Hayley was a regular at the branch and admits she has never experienced any problems before.

But she added: "I will never ever be eating McDonald's again."

A spokesman for McDonald's said: "We are very sorry that our usual high standards of food quality do not appear to have been met in this isolated incident.

"We will be investigating, and we will be in touch with Ms Parsons to see what we can do to put things right."

Croydon Council confirmed that an environmental health officer had visited the McDonald's and hadn't found any infestation or risk to public health inside.

A spokesman added: "He later discovered the meal had been purchased in the drive-thru area and the suspicion is it may have fallen from somewhere into the meal."