For four hours, patrons of McDonald's new 50-seater restaurant at Forfar in the Howe of Angus had to run a gauntlet of several hundred angry agricultural persons protesting at the company's decision to fill their buns with Dutch rather than Scottish meat.
The demonstration was Britain's first organised attempt to force the hamburger chain to repeal its ban on British beef, though, mindful of McDonald's lawyers, organisers stressed they were not calling for a boycott. Instead, customers were urged to demand British burgers, with the presumption that, as none were available, they would take their trade elsewhere.
"I think it was a pathetic decision," said 20-year-old Kerry Hastie, from Arbroath. "If they are going to open restaurants here, they should be supporting us, not turning against us."
