McDonald’s has apologised after a Muslim woman complained she was told to remove her headscarf or leave one of the fast-food chain’s restaurants, saying she was told it was a security threat.

The 19-year-old student, who asked not to be named, said she was stopped in a north London McDonald’s by a security guard who repeatedly told her to remove her hijab on Thursday evening.

When she refused, she said the guard appeared shocked but continued to ask, so she decided to film the incident on her phone. A friend later uploaded it to Twitter on her behalf.

In the video, the woman, who is a British Muslim of Middle Eastern descent, asks the guard why she cannot come into the McDonald’s. He responds: “It’s just a matter of taking it off.”

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