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Comedy star threatened with arrest after bringing folding bike into McDonald's

Brian Conley said three officers arrived in a van to take him away after he attempted to bring cycle into fast food restaurant

A stand-up comedian was threatened with arrest by police in Scotland - for insisting on bringing his folding bike into a McDonald’s.

Brian Conley said that three Grampian police officers were called to the incident, which he tweeted about, saying:

"All because I took my bicycle into McDonalds. I sincerely apologise, I didn't know I couldn't take my bike in!”
He obviously managed to talk his way out of the situation, later posting a picture of himself at home holding his bike:
 

 

The star was in the restaurant at 1am having performed in the musical Barnum at His Majesty's theatre in Aberdeen.

McDonald's told the Daily Record that an incident took place "that resulted in security staff calling police."

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Officers spoke to a man but no more action was taken."

Last year we reported how a cyclist was refused service at a McDonald’s drive thru.

Alistair Thompson, a councillor on Portsmouth City Council, was out riding with his four-year-old son when he decided to pop into the drive thru at the Pompey Centre for a happy meal.

He told the Portsmouth News that having placed his order at the speaker, he was told he couldn’t pay for his order at the next window.

Even when the driver of a car in front offered to pick up his meal for him, the member of staff serving wouldn’t allow it. He added that as there are cycle lanes in the area, including towards the restaurant, it seemed counter-intuitive to ban cyclists from the drive thru.

"I got to the pay window and I was told 'you can’t stay here,'" he said.

"I had been queuing just like everyone else. The worker was a jobsworth. A woman in the car in front said she would buy the Happy Meal for me but the worker said “no, you can’t do that”. It was complete nonsense.

"I was told I had to park up and pay in the branch.

A McDonald’s spokeswoman said: ‘McDonald’s supports the health and environmental benefits of cycling. However it is our policy not to serve cyclists through the drive-through lane.

‘The Highway Code, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and our own hygiene and safety department were consulted when forming this policy.’

The incident came a few weeks after a woman was fined after taking her horse into a McDonald's restaurant in Greater Manchester.

She was refused service in the drive thru in Whitefield, so led the animal into the main restaurant where it defacated on the floor.

A statement posted on the Facebook page of Greater Manchester Police's Whitefield Division read: "The staff refused to serve the women due to company policy.

"The woman then took the horse into the restaurant, who ended up doing his business on the floor. The sight and smell of this caused obvious distress and upset to customers trying to eat, as well as staff members."

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34 comments

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banzicyclist2 | 9 years ago
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The sight and smell of the shite McDonalds serve up as "food" causes me upset and distress, I wonder if I can call the police and get the f**kers arrested?  39

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Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
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I must've missed the bit in the Highway Code where it says "you won't get served via a Maccy D's drive through whilst on a pedal cycle".

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Al__S | 9 years ago
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with the Drive-Thru incident RosPA made it clear they had not been consulted

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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He was threatened with arrest as his jokes are so bad.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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I would have swallowed my principles and gone into a McDs just to see McMuffin the Mule shit himself on their floor. Priceless.

Maybe he got the frites when he thought he could end up between two bits of bread.

 24

McDs clearly hate cyclists. No skin off my nose as I can safely say there is nothing they serve under the title "food" that I would consider eating which is probably a good thing.

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bendertherobot | 9 years ago
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Bear in mind that the first point at which you are told that it's unsafe to cycle through a McD's drive thru is after you've cycled through it.

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FourteenIslands | 9 years ago
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"She was refused service in the drive thru in Whitefield, so led the animal into the main restaurant where it defacated on the floor."

I could have lunch at McDonald's at least once in my life just to see that.

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The _Kaner | 9 years ago
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It's a pupetttttt!

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Northernbike | 9 years ago
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I'm surprised at this as I thought Macdonalds welcomed sporty types in their restaurants seeing as most of their customers seem to be wearing tracksuits when they visit. Maybe they haven't all come straight from the gym after all...

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truffy | 9 years ago
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Brian Conley and McDonalds are about as funny as each other.

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to truffy | 9 years ago
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truffy wrote:

Brian Conley and McDonalds are about as funny as each other.

levermonkey's story is funnier than either.

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levermonkey | 9 years ago
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A few years ago we were working overnight in Canary Wharf. About 2 o'clock in the morning we got hungry and as the MacDonalds by Billingsgate fish market was the only place open we went there.

The drive-through was open but the restaurant was closed and neither of the vehicles we were in could negotiate the drive-through.

Not to be outwitted, 2 crane operators, 3 slingers and a crane supervisor proceeded on foot (and in a formation roughly equating to a driver and 5 passengers) through the drive-through making car noises and all the relevant actions such winding down the window, hand-brake etc.

They served us!  4

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notfastenough replied to levermonkey | 9 years ago
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levermonkey wrote:

A few years ago we were working overnight in Canary Wharf. About 2 o'clock in the morning we got hungry and as the MacDonalds by Billingsgate fish market was the only place open we went there.

The drive-through was open but the restaurant was closed and neither of the vehicles we were in could negotiate the drive-through.

Not to be outwitted, 2 crane operators, 3 slingers and a crane supervisor proceeded on foot (and in a formation roughly equating to a driver and 5 passengers) through the drive-through making car noises and all the relevant actions such winding down the window, hand-brake etc.

They served us!  4

I worked in a McDs when I was at college. I seem to recall a bunch of young lads trying this in Manchester, but in a stroke of genius, one of the lads in the 'back' was beatboxing, everyone nodding their heads, until the driver leaned forward and turned down the radio at which point they all stopped!

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gazza_d | 9 years ago
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Never tried to cycle though a drive thru, but on several occasions when MTBing or just road cycling on very grubby mucky days I have gone into McDs for coffee etc (only establishment available) & trailed no end of mud & water behind me. Staff never batted an eyelid.

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congokid replied to gazza_d | 9 years ago
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gazza_d wrote:

trailed no end of mud & water behind me. Staff never batted an eyelid.

Water off a duck's back. If you've ever worked in a McDonalds (I have) or seen one after a bunch of kids have eaten there, you'll know that cleaning up after customers is a never-ending task.

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wheelsucker | 9 years ago
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my bicycle is my mobility device, watch out wheelchair users the Golden Arches don't want you there

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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The Drive through thing actually isn't safe for bicycles or indeed motorcycles. (They aren't meant to serve motorbikes either)

I only know this as I was involved in the design of the Costa's and the lighting and sight lines are quite different as a result.

The newer McDonalds are actually safe, but I think they have a problem in that they want to apply the rules across all sites.

Remember McDonalds gets sued over coffee that's too hot, so are probably wary about getting sued as some one wobbles off one handed holding their greasy luke warm bag of junk calories and gets run over by a van.

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AndrewRH | 9 years ago
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McDonald's does not like people cycling (or riding their horse or pony for that matter).

They deliberately design their restaurants only for motor vehicles: McDonald’s drive-thru not open to people on bicycles

If you're after a coffee and light snack, Costa gladly will serve you, as the CEO confirms: A first with Costa Coffee drive-thru

~Andrew~

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TheSpaniard replied to AndrewRH | 9 years ago
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AndrewRH wrote:

If you're after a coffee and light snack, Costa gladly will serve you

They're usually happy to re-fill bidons too

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SideBurn replied to AndrewRH | 9 years ago
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AndrewRH wrote:

McDonald's does not like people cycling (or riding their horse or pony for that matter).

They deliberately design their restaurants only for motor vehicles: McDonald’s drive-thru not open to people on bicycles

If you're after a coffee and light snack, Costa gladly will serve you, as the CEO confirms: A first with Costa Coffee drive-thru

~Andrew~

You are not allowed to drive Ambulances through either, so they are not just anti-cyclist (and anti-horse)

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djcritchley replied to SideBurn | 9 years ago
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SideBurn wrote:

You are not allowed to drive Ambulances through either

I'm not happy about that. How the hell are critically ill people going to get their burger and fries en-route to casualty?

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Beatnik69 replied to djcritchley | 9 years ago
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djcritchley wrote:
SideBurn wrote:

You are not allowed to drive Ambulances through either

I'm not happy about that. How the hell are critically ill people going to get their burger and fries en-route to casualty?

What about when I want to take my ambulance through? It's hungry work bustin' ghosts.

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nigel_s | 9 years ago
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Doubtless the customers were "upset" by the horse poo on the floor when they realised they couldn't tell the difference between that and what they were eating.

Or, perhaps the horse shat itself because it thought it was going to end up on the menu.

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Gasman Jim | 9 years ago
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Clearly horses also read the Urban Dictionary:

McShit
The act of using the public restroom in a fast food restaurant without purchasing any food. When challenged by a suspicious manager, the assurance of a subsequent purchase of said fast food is known as a "McShit with Lies".

All that place is fit for!

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zanf | 9 years ago
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Have been vegetarian for 25 years so have not had a reason to visit but only reason I did ever go in there was that they sold root beer.

Their policy of not serving bicycles at their drive through is slightly headscratching but I am more concerned about how many KSIs are caused by their fleet of vehicles delivering their shit around the country, and how much pollution they dump into the environment.

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parksey | 9 years ago
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Ah, they've craftily now changed the headline...

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Argos74 | 9 years ago
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Lucky escape. Moral of this story - ride everywhere, you'll even eat better.

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brooksby | 9 years ago
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My local McDonalds regularly has MTBs parked inside, leaned up against the windows.

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Gasman Jim | 9 years ago
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I can understand why one would find this annoying, but really McShit are doing us cyclists a favour by stopping us eating their filth.

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hampstead_bandit | 9 years ago
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Years ago I was refused drive-in service at the McDonalds on City Road in London, because I was on my bicycle. All I wanted was a veggie burger.

The staff refused to serve me and suggested I leave before they called their security service? I was polite throughout and pointed out I was using a legal, road-going vehicle (bicycle).

When I complained to McDonald's head office afterwards, they told me it was down to the individual franchise owner that operated that restaurant, and no further conversation would be entertained.

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