A McDonalds employee said she left her job after a male colleague stroked her hair in a sexually suggestive way.

The 20-year-old said there was “expectation” of being harassed if you work for the fast food chain amid a sexual abuse scandal at restaurants across the country.

The news comes after a BBC investigation uncovered girls as young as 17 had been sexually abused.

A 19 year old who left her job at a McDonalds in Brighton, told the BBC: "It's the expectation that if you work at McDonald's, you will be harassed.”

She added that she had left her job after a male colleague, reported to be in his 60s, kept stroking her hair in a sexually suggestive way, something which made her feel uncomfortable.

Investigations have uncovered a culture of sexual abuse as well as reports of racism and homophobia.

The investigation took place over the space of five months and uncovered over 100 allegations from employees.

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In response, McDonald’s chief executive Alistair Macrow said: “Every one of the 177,000 employees in McDonald’s UK deserves to work in a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace. There are clearly instances where we have fallen short and for that we deeply apologise.

“There is simply no place for harassment, abuse, or discrimination of any kind at McDonald’s – and we will investigate all allegations brought to us, and all proven breaches of our code of conduct will be met with the most severe measures we can legally impose, up to and including dismissal.

“Already over 2,000 of our managers have completed full awareness training and nearly all of our restaurant teams are now working within these new protections aimed at creating a safe and respectful workplace.”

The news comes after the company committed to a “zero-tolerance approach” to any kind of harassment in an agreement with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.