A hungry young Syrian child was beaten by a manager at a branch of Burger King in Istanbul for eating a customer’s left over food.

The incident occurred at the branch in Şirinevler earlier in the week, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Shocked eyewitnesses uploaded pictures online showing the child sat next to blood-stained tissues as passers-by came to his assistance.

A spokesperson for Burger King said it was aware of the incident and the employee involved had been dismissed.

The spokesperson told The Independent: "Burger King Corp has been made aware of this incident that took place in Turkey several days ago.