MANCHESTER, England – McDonald’s and KFC restaurants in parts of England are hiring bouncers or banning youth from their establishments after a series of fights and rowdy behavior after school.

At the Manchester McDonald’s, security will limit teenage customers to two at a time between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays, the store’s busiest time, after rambunctious youth caused “thousands of pounds worth of damage” from fighting and other bad behavior, BBC’s Newsbeat reports.

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“These measures were introduced in consultation with the police, local council and two nearby schools,” a McDonald’s spokesman told the news site.

“(It’s) after a series of incidents in which a large group of young people caused thousands of pounds worth of dame to the restaurant and threatened and abused staff and customers,” the spokesman said. “The safety of our employees and customers is one of the utmost importance and we take a zero-tolerance approach to any activity that puts this at risk.”

In an incident Friday afternoon, a fight broke out among about 200 students gathered in front of the McDonald’s in the city’s center, many wearing school uniforms, prompting roughly 20 police officers to respond to quell the disturbance. The Manchester Evening News reports the fight initially started with 20 students inside the store, and they were sent outside, where things escalated. At least one girl was hauled away in a van by police.

Local business owners refused to be identified for fear of retaliation from young thugs, but said they welcome security staff at the McDonald’s to help counter the rampant bad behavior from students after school.

“There’s always a fight happening or they’re deliberately disturbing the public,” one business owner said. “They’re just loud and rude all the time.”

Patrons at the Manchester McDonald’s are also grateful.

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“The kids have no respect for adults in that place, no please, no thank you,” an unidentified Chorlton resident told Newsbeat. “They take over the place. I even heard one teenager swear at police. He was then arrested.”

The new security in Manchester follows similar protocols implemented at McDonald’s and KFC restaurants in Stoke-on-Trent, where a fight between 20 teens required an armed police response, including a police helicopter, according to the news site.

The Stoke-on-Trent establishments have now banned all customers under 18 years old unless they have parental supervision, a move several locals told Newsbeat is an excellent idea.

“Kids as young as five and six walk that street and there’s two big gangs arguing,” former resident “Lauren” said. “I don’t want my kids around that. It’s the reason I move out of (the area) ion the first place.”

Both KFC and McDonald’s expressed regret in implementing the security measures, but a KFC spokesman said they’re already making a big difference.

“It’s unfortunate that this is sometimes the only solution left open to us and we’re sorry that it will leave some customers disappointed,” the spokesman said. “But we have found since this has been implemented there has been a noticeable improvement in the restaurant and we have received support from the local community and customers.”