The mother left furious after “rude” McDonald’s employees said her daughter, 4, couldn’t go to the bathroom

A mother was furious after “rude” McDonald’s employees refused her four-year-old to go to the toilet because she said she almost wet herself despite being a paying customer

A mother was furious after McDonald’s staff refused to let her “distressed” four-year-old daughter use the bathroom.

Staff at the Plymouth restaurant chain are said to have turned her away as the upstairs toilets were in a separate area at the time – despite her daughter’s urging to use the loo, reports said PlymouthLive.

The mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said she brought her little one to the fast-food chain for breakfast as a treat. However, the day of their mother-daughter bond was turned on its head.

She said her morning had become one that neither of them would forget.

Staff were “rude” to her, she claims, after her daughter almost wet herself after having to “desperate” to use the restaurant’s toilet.

The mother said when her daughter tried to use the upstairs toilets, they were called back downstairs by a staff member.

She added that while she spoke to the McDonald’s employee to try and fix the problem, her daughter “jumped up and down” and said, “My pee is going to come out, I can feel it coming out.”

She also said it felt like they were being “turned away” for wanting to use the upstairs toilets. After speaking to a member of staff, they let the girl use the bathroom upstairs, but the mother was upset with the situation and the way she and her daughter were being spoken to.

The Plymouth mum said: “We had breakfast at McDonalds as a special treat because Friday is my day off with her and we sat downstairs because upstairs the toilet wasn’t open. And as a four-year-old, when they say they need a toilet, you have to find a toilet pretty quickly – there’s no hanging around.

“There was only one disabled toilet on the ground floor and my daughter started going upstairs, there was a barrier in the way but other people had gone upstairs and she usually uses the toilets which are upstairs.

“Then this lady called us back down, she was quite rude and said we weren’t allowed upstairs and into the disabled toilet. I replied that someone was using this toilet and she urgently needed to go to the toilet.

“I wouldn’t have thought of using a disabled toilet because we are not disabled and it almost feels wrong. At the time someone was there and there were a lot of customers, so one toilet in proportion to the customers doesn’t seem to be enough.”

“There was an awkward pause and my daughter rocked up and down and said ‘My pee is coming out, I feel it coming out’ and I said to the staff member that I’d rather use the toilet upstairs because I can’t did. I don’t want my four year old getting wet.

“The employee sighed and said she would speak to a manager and by this time my daughter was very upset. The employee then said, “Fine, you can go upstairs.” She added, “I felt like I was being told something.”

She continued: “It really upset me and luckily my poor daughter made it to the bathroom in time but it’s just the way they treated her. It’s not fair – she’s a child. We’ve paid clients, it’s not like we just walked off the street.

“We just left and would have had another drink because we had all day off. At that moment I felt challenged to even dare to go upstairs. If she had wet herself she would have been ashamed of a bit of trash over something so small.”

A McDonald’s spokesman said the restaurants pride themselves on providing a “welcoming environment.” Responding to the allegation made on the occasion, they said a staff member was on hand to “quickly advise” the mother and daughter of the customer restrooms. Ground floor was closed and the request was approved immediately.

The spokesman also confirmed they had checked the CCTV and they said the request to use the upstairs toilets was “immediately fine” after the mother and daughter contacted the staff member.