Man with 'assistance parrot' claims he was kicked out of McDonald's

A man says he was left humiliated after being asked to leave a McDonald's because he had his 'assistance parrot' with him.

Jason Russell visited the Festival Park branch with his bird hitching along for the ride alongside his eight-year-old grandchild at lunchtime on Friday. He described the parrot to be "like his guide dog" and ensures that she is kept in her own special carry cage when on the move.

The 49-year-old highlighted that many food venues have previously 'welcomed' feathered Miley but this wasn't the case at McDonald's. He told StokeonTrentLive that after finishing his meal, two staff members approached him and said he 'can't have that in here'.

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Mr Russell said: "Everything was fine when I walked in. We ordered, sat down, ate the meal. The little girl was talking to Miley. Two floor staff were hovering around, they never said anything. Once we’d eaten, one of them said ‘You can’t have that in here’. They made sure they took my money, ate the food and then did it."

He added: "She can't get out or do anything. If she was on my shoulder, out of the appropriate thing, then fair enough, but she wasn’t. It was embarrassing, there was loads of people. It wasn’t done nicely. Other places embrace her, they look after her. They know she can’t get out.

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“If a manager had asked why I had the bird, I could have explained to them but I had no way of explaining. It wasn’t even a manager that came and told me.”

Mr Russell, who has several health conditions, added: "I've got a very rare genetic illness. There’s only four of us in the world. There’s a