UK KFC Apologizes for Allegedly Booting Lesbian Couple for Kissing

Staff from a franchise Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Bath, a county of Somerset in South West England, has apologized to a lesbian couple for allegedly kicking them out of the restaurant Thursday, after customers complained about the women's "heavy petting," the British newspaper the Independent reports.

The women, whose names are not revealed, told police they were poorly treated by KFC workers, claiming they were verbally abused.

Stephen Pope, the father of one of the women, reportedly took to Twitter and said, "a couple complained about them being gay so the manager threw them out." He also wrote to KFC and said, "Dear @kfc the manager at your Bath, UK, store just kicked my daughter and her g/f out for being #gay. Is this one of your policies?"

A KFC spokesperson responded and apologized for "any offense caused."

"While we acknowledge that staff may have been over-zealous in asking the couple to leave, we do not believe that the decision had anything to do with their sexuality," the spokesperson said. "Staff acted in response to complaints from customers about inappropriate behaviour, however they have since apologised, in person, to the couple, and offered them vouchers as a form of apology, so we hope to welcome them into the store again soon."

Local police said they received a complaint about "abuse directed at [the lesbian couple] in relation to their sexuality" and "a suggestion that they were asked to leave because they were upsetting other customers".