McDonald's has apologised after staff at an Ayrshire branch refused to serve two paramedics via its drive-thru service.

The NHS crew's ambulance was too large to get through the gate at the restaurant in Riverway Retail Park, Irvine, in the early hours of Thursday, April 12.

One of the paramedics then approached the drive-thru window on foot and was told it was against company policy to serve them unless they were in a vehicle.

The fast food chain cited health and safety regulations for this decision but insisted it would "make amends" with the medical workers soon.

A spokeswoman for McDonald's said: "Due to licensing restrictions at our Irvine restaurant the dining area cannot be opened overnight.

"The drive-thru is open 24 hours but unfortunately vehicles as large as an ambulance cannot fit through the lane.

"We would like to apologise to the ambulance crew involved in this incident who were unable to access the restaurant but due to health and safety regulations we cannot serve anyone on foot via any of our drive-thru lanes.

"However, wherever possible we are keen to serve anyone from our emergency services and will be in touch with them to make amends very soon."