Pizza Hut apologises to black footballers who were asked to pay in advance

06 December 2010 by
Pizza Hut apologises to black footballers who were asked to pay in advance

Restaurant chain Pizza Hut has apologised to six black footballers after they were told by staff to pay for their food before eating because of "the way they look".

The AFC Bournemouth players were asked by to pay for their £5.99 all-you-can-eat buffet meals after ordering. The group refused after noticing a group of white youths who arrived after them had not been asked to do so and the restaurant called the police.

Pizza Hit has apologised to the players, who included first-team regulars Anton Robinson, Liam Feeney and Marvin Bartley. Midfielder Robinson told The Daily Mail that they asked if the request was restaurant policy. "The manager] said ‘no'. When we asked why he had asked us, he said: ‘It's the way you look.'"

A spokesman for Pizza Hut said it had recently introduced a policy of asking certain customers to pay in advance, but this was at the discretion of staff. He said that police had recommended asking people to pay for their meal before dining following a number of incidents where customers had left without paying.

"We do not tolerate any form of discrimination, so immediately investigated this incident. While our duty manager's actions were absolutely not racially motivated, we are very sorry for the way this was handled," he added.

A spokesman for Dorset Police confirmed officers attended the Bournemouth branch of Pizza Hut after receiving a complaint from the restaurant about disruptive customers.

Are you ready for a runner? >>

Couple arrested as L'Autre Pied becomes latest victim of cigarette scam >>

By Janie Stamford

E-mail your comments to Janie Stamford here.

If you have something to say on this story or anything else join the debate at Table Talk - Caterer's new networking forum. Go to www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk

Caterersearch.com jobs

Looking for a new job? Find your next job here with Caterersearch.com jobs

[Blogs on Caterersearch.com](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs) Catch up with more news and gossip on all Caterer's blogs
[Newsletters For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our e-mail newsletters.
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking