A Yeovil woman has branded a fast food chain "offensive, ignorant and racist" after they refused to accept a Scottish £5 note to pay for her food.
The woman, who has asked not to be named, says that she visited the Yeovil branch of McDonald's (off Lysander Road) at 7.30pm on Friday, March 15th.
She produced the £5 note to pay for her meal but was told that Scottish money was not acceptable. A senior staff member was called and said it is company policy not to accept Scottish bank notes because there was no way of checking whether the notes are genuine or forgeries.
The woman found some English money in the end to pay for the food, but remains critical of the company.
Carol singing young farmers and brass band entertain Christmas extravaganza families
Environment Agency wishing for more heavy rain as rivers and reservoirs 'in recovery'
MP's column: "Another tough year, but I’m so proud of my community"
Repairs to A396 Cutcombe Hill moved to nighttime work to avoid Snowdrop Valley clash"They went on about our money and their money, but we're all British, aren't we?
"As long as it says Sterling, I can't see what the problem is. I went to Tesco the following day and had no problems whatsoever paying with the Scottish note.
"Their attitude [McDonald's] is offensive, ignorant and racist," she said.
The woman, who runs a business of her own, says she would have no problems if her customers wished to pay with Scottish money, or Euros for that matter.
A Clarion staff member paid a visit to the McDonald's branch on Monday March 25th, armed with a Scottish £5 note and aiming for a banana milkshake.
The person who took the order summoned a senior colleague, who tested the note with a marker-style pen before accepting it.
A McDonald's spokesman later confirmed that Scottish notes had not been accepted by the branch at the time of the Yeovil woman's visit.
"We are really sorry for any inconvenience caused but we had no choice. You can the check the notes with a special sort of marker pen, which we didn't have in the Yeovil branch at the time."
She explained that there had been a problem with fake Scottish notes throughout the country, with the southwest appearing to be the most affected area. One McDonald's branch in Bristol had detected 170 false Scottish notes in one day, for example.
"The pens are in Yeovil now, so we are happy to take Scottish notes again. We are really sorry for any inconvenience caused," the spokesperson concluded.