There have been calls for staff at fast food outlets to be allowed a panic button and “pepper spray” to protect themselves against anti-social behaviour, following an incident in Pool last night in which a boy allegedly had a knife.

Philip Desmonde, Cornwall councillor for Pool and Tehidy, who has made the appeal, warned he “wouldn’t be surprised if somebody doesn’t get critically injured” in the future after reading a post on Facebook from Mary Gannaway, who claimed her two young daughters were “terrified” by what happened at the McDonald’s restaurant in Pool.

Mrs Gannaway said she took her daughters into the restaurant to eat as a treat, but was left “absolutely fuming.”

She said: “What a mistake that was. I feel so sorry for the staff there, especially the lovely cleaning lady and manager. Loads of kids there hanging out, most of them innocently, apart from one group of absolute **** heads, one, who was about 4ft tall and completely off his face, suspected of carrying a knife. A b****y knife for Christ sake.

“Squaring up to a man with two children who were leaving, using threatening behaviour and pulling something out of his pocket as he was getting in his face. The poor guy was just trying to get his kids out the door safely.

“The police were called but they had already run off. My girls were terrified.

“Please, if your children are hanging around up there make sure they are safe.

“The cleaning lady had to try to deal with the situation, with help shortly after from the manager who had been on the phone to the police. No way the cleaning lady should have to try to be security too.”

Falmouth Packet:

Mary Gannaway said her daughters were left upset and "terrified" by what happened

After hearing about the incident councillor Mr Desmonde said he wanted to see “concrete action” taken by Cornwall Council to address the problem of anti-social behaviour and also impact on health he believes is caused by fast food outlets, adding: “I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody doesn’t get critically injured if they’re not careful.”

Describing the Facebook claims as “horrifying”, Mr Desmonde said: “This potential knifing incident is one that I have been forecasting would occur for some time.”

He now wants to see a countywide moratorium made through the planning system putting a halt on all applications for new fast food outlets until there has been a policy decision on their safety, in the context of obesity, diabetes and pressure on the NHS, as well as the anti-social behaviour he believes they attract.

He would also like see a report produced showing that enforcement is being undertaken and the situation monitored, with figures of incidents and what research is being done to show anti-social behaviour is dealt with.

Finally, he is calling for staff at fast food outlets – who he described as “underpaid and undervalued in many respects” – to be allowed to protect themselves through the installation of a panic button being connected to the police and, subject to training, should be able to “have pepper spray to protect themselves.”

Falmouth Packet:

The McDonald's restaurant in Pool where the incident is said to have taken place

Mr Desmonde told the Packet: “We cannot have a cleaning lady with a broom trying to chase off and provide defence against a knife. It is untenable; it’s absolutely wrong.”

He said he had spoken with consultants at the Royal Cornwall Hospital who had told him that issues with diabetes and obesity in Cornwall were “as a consequence of the link to these outlets” in general and it was “becoming a serious issue resulting in huge cost and resource time on the NHS.”

He added: “The whole of that area has been subjected to the development of fast food outlets. The impact on the health of students who go the college nearby, and to the nature of the area, is quite appalling.

“There’s also anti-social behaviour that seems to be a very common occurrence with these places. There is far too much of the materials that are part of the fast food experience being dumped all over the place; food being thrown around.

“And the congregation of young people without proper supervision and enforcement by the authorities is leading to something of a free for all when it comes to the anti-social behaviour that is escalating.”

Falmouth Packet:

Cornwall councillor for Pool and Tehidy, Philip Desmonde, is calling for action to be taken

He said he was also aware of “boy racing” and motorbikes being driven around car park of this business complex and the general East Hill area.

He said the whole area of fast food outlets was a concern to him, claiming that on one occasion there were so many cars queuing to get to the new Costa drive-through in Gas Lane that some drivers ended up abandoning their vehicles and walking the rest of the way, resulting in fights.

“When people have complained, they thumped them or threw hot coffee over them,” he claimed.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said this evening: "The safety and security of our staff and customers is of the utmost importance to us. We are working very closely with the police in Pool to play our part in preventing any increase in anti-social behaviour in our local community.

"The restaurant has invested in a number of security measures and works closely with the police and other agencies to tackle this type of behaviour. We will continue to work with the police on any investigation on this incident.”

The Packet has also contacted the police for a statement.