Is this Britain’s roughest KFC? Branch in crime-hit industrial town BANS unaccompanied under-18s on Friday evenings and weekends after spate of anti-social behaviour
- KFC in Sittingbourne, Kent, bans unaccompanied under-18s at certain times
- Age checks on visitors from 4pm on Fridays and from midday at weekends
- ** Witnessed violence at Sittingbourne KFC? Email: [email protected] **
KFC has banned unaccompanied under-18s from a branch at the weekends and imposed on-the-door ID checks by security guards after a spate of violent incidents.
The fried chicken chain’s outlet in the Kent industrial town of Sittingbourne has taken action in an attempt to restore order after it was blighted by anti-social behaviour.
Staff said they are now carrying out age checks on visitors from 4pm on Fridays and from midday on Saturdays and Sundays – with any unaccompanied children banned.
There are no signs at the branch enforcing the rule, but one anonymous worker told Kent Online: ‘We have to have security here as there are problems with the kids.’
However the ban has been criticised as ‘disgusting’ by local mother-of-five Kayleigh Trimmings after her son Tyler, 17, was asked for ID by a security guard on the door.
KFC in Sittingbourne, Kent, has imposed a ban on unaccompanied under-18s at certain times
Ms Trimmings said there was a group of children gathered outside the branch and she initially thought nothing of it because ‘there are always loads of kids in the area’.
But she added: ‘My son had walked ahead and went to enter KFC before me as I had the other children. The security guard thought Tyler was on his own and asked for his ID.
‘Tyler had to show him his citizen card and because he was under 18 the security guard wouldn’t let him in until he realised he was with me.’
Ms Trimmings added that she saw the guard turn away a young couple she thought were aged 17 – and pointed out that the McDonald’s next door had no such policy on banning children.
A KFC spokesman said: ‘Safety has always been our top priority and we simply do not tolerate any violence towards our guests or team members.
‘Our Sittingbourne restaurant has seen some recent behaviour from guests that the Colonel wouldn’t be proud of and so for the time being any under-18s visiting after 6pm must be accompanied by an adult.’
MailOnline has asked for clarification, given that the times provided in KFC’s statement were different to those relayed to Kent Online by staff at the branch.
It comes amid a rise in anti-social behaviour in Sittingbourne, which saw a mobile CCTV unit set up outside a Morrisons supermarket in February where young thugs had been wreaking havoc and targeting staff and customers.
Kent Police then imposed a dispersal order from May 26 to 28 across the high street and Sittingbourne Retail Park, where the KFC is located.
Staff at the KFC branch in Sittingbourne, Kent, said they are now carrying out age checks
A second dispersal order was issued from June 1 to 4, giving police more powers to move on anyone causing a nuisance and arrest those returning to the area.
Three weeks later police were called to a Greggs bakery in the town centre on June 22 after reports of teenagers causing a nuisance by using water guns.
Vishal Wadhwa, who owns Trade Counter in the high street, said this week that his staff have started to wear body cams because of issues with local teenagers.
The issues at the Sittingbourne KFC are nothing new – with a Freedom of Information request in 2019 revealing Kent Police were called to the branch five times in a year.
This was more times than they were called to any other of the chain’s 30 outlets in Kent. The crimes included robbery, violence, theft and public order offences.
The branch has an average TripAdvisor rating of just two out of five, with 55 of the 99 reviews left rating it as a ‘terrible’ – and one labelling it the ‘worst KFC ever’.
Another reviewer said: ‘It’s hard to find anything positive to say re the KFC in Sittingbourne. The place is disgusting with no one cleaning up. All the bins were overflowing with people just throwing waste on the floor. People not clearing tables as nowhere to put rubbish.’
And a third added: ‘Terrible. Place was really dirty food and rubbish all over the floor. Bins overflowing. Tables covered in food and were not clean. What I can presume a lack of staff meant a 30 minute wait for food. Would not go back.’
In April 2019, a mother found what she thought was a maggot embedded inside a corn on the cob purchased from the Sittingbourne KFC – although the chain later clarified that it appeared to be a corn borer and it was ‘perfectly natural’.
** Witnessed violence at Sittingbourne KFC? Email: [email protected] **
