A teenager in Manchester has claimed that McDonald's staff told her the fast food chain was "not allowed to serve homeless people" due to a new "policy" when she tried to buy breakfast for a man she saw living on the streets.

Charlotte Farrow, 19, told the Manchester Evening News that she saw the man while walking past the McDonald’s on Oxford Road in Manchester on her way to work, and decided to stop and buy him some food.

The pair queued up inside the fast food chain, and when the homeless man tried to take out some of his own money in preparation to pay for the food, Farrow stopped him and told him she would be paying.

Charlotte Farrow was turned away when she tried to buy food for the homeless man (Facebook)

But then Farrow says she was told about the "policy" by the restaurant's supervisor: “He said the business manager told them they weren’t allowed to serve homeless people. They said it was a new policy,” Farrow said.

Farrow told the newspaper the situation was “completely immoral” and “extremely judgemental”.

Both she and the elderly man were served food after the initial dispute, and McDonald’s has apologised for the situation, stating there is no such policy to refuse service to homeless people.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s said staff had since looked over CCTV footage that shows the homeless man had already been served before Farrow entered the premises. The footage later shows both Farrow and the man being served.

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“Both the customer and the gentleman she was buying food for were served. It is not a McDonald’s policy to refuse to serve homeless people and all staff have been reminded of this,” the spokesperson added.

While the homeless policy proved false, McDonald’s has introduced a controversial new policy in its Cambridge restaurants that could see customers breathalysed before they are allowed on the premises, in a bid to stop alcohol-fuelled crime in the city.