THIS WEEK IN 1997: Food firm fined for wire in French fry

A sales consultant sought compensation after McDonald's was convicted of selling her a meal containing wire embedded in a chip.

Policeman’s daughter Hayley Waller, 18, took action against the fast food giant which was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £2,900 costs.

Fareham magistrates were told how the wire ended up in a chip after falling off a frying basket at McDonald’s Gosport.

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After the case Miss Waller of Carlsbrooke Road, Gosport, said: ‘McDonald’s lay on so many parties for children and I thought that if the wire had got lodged in one of their throats anything could have happened.

‘This is the sort of thing you might expect at a cheap cafe – not a restaurant such as McDonald’s.’

Magistrates were told health inspectors found 22 of the restaurant’s 72 frying baskets were damaged and 10 had metal missing.