FAST food giant McDonald’s has formally apologised to a teenage lesbian couple who were ordered to leave a restaurant after a peck on the cheek.

The pair, Kristeen Ferenczi, aged 16, and her 17-year-old girlfriend, who are both students at Bolton Sixth Form College, were in McDonald’s in Bolton town centre at lunchtime on February 9.

An investigation was launched by the company after a member of staff asked them to leave.

In a letter from McDonald’s area supervisor Lee Atherton, Kristeen was informed of the outcome of its investigation

Mr Atherton said: “In investigating your visit its appears the customer care assistant reacted to a request from another customer that your behaviour with your partner was in their opinion inappropriate with a family-based restaurant.

“However, on reviewing the internal CCTV system, I can see this claim was unfounded and should have been dealt with in a more sensitive manner from the team within the store. For this please accept my sincere apologies.”

He added: “Your comments are taken seriously by us and have been passed to the management team at the Bolton town centre restaurant to monitor.

“The details of your complaint will be used as part of their assessment of the restaurant’s performance and procedures.

“These ongoing reviews help to identify any areas needing improvement within the restaurant.”

After the incident Kristeen, from Farnworth, said: “My girlfriend and I were enjoying meals. After finishing our meals we were talking and laughing, before she leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

“Within seconds of her doing so, a member of staff approached us and asked us to ‘stop kissing’ as it was ‘inappropriate’. She said ‘we’ve had complaints about the pair of you kissing’.”

The staff member told the pair that she had been instructed to keep an eye on the girls to see if they kissed a second time.

Lesbian couple forced to leave Bolton McDonald's after kissing

Kristeen said the staff member then said: “I’m going to have to ask for you to leave.”

In giving the latest apology, Mr Atherton also sent the couple gift cards “to make amends for their spoilt visit”.

Kristeen added: “All we wanted from McDonald’s was an apology and an admission that they were in the wrong, and that’s what we have had.”