Drinks ban: Falkirk Stadium Pic: © STV
Teenage football fans have been banned from buying hot drinks at an SPL stadium over health and safety fears, it emerged on Friday.
Young supporters trying to buy hot chocolate or tea at Falkirk FC's ground are being turned away - and told by kiosk staff they cannot buy hot drinks in case they are placed in danger.
A spokesman for the Bairns - who are facing relegation, four points adrift at the bottom of the SPL - said they took action after two young fans were hospitalised after spilling hot drinks and being scalded at recent home matches.
He said the club had instructed catering contractors Azure Catering to prevent youngsters buying hot drinks in the future.
One fan of Falkirk's SPL rivals St Johnstone, who attended the match between the two sides on Saturday, hit out at the ban.
She said: "My 13-year-old made his way up the stairs to his seat and told me he'd been refused a hot chocolate at the kiosk because he was under 16. I was quite bemused.
"Then my pal's son told me he'd asked for a pie and a coffee. He was asked if he was 16 to which he replied that he was only 15. The girl behind the counter refused to sell him the coffee saying it was due to health and safety reasons.
"What kind of bizarre nanny state to we live in where a teenager isn't allowed to buy a hot drink - what do the people in charge think they are going to do with it?"
A spokesman for Falkirk FC said the club had been forced to take action after recent incidents.
He said: "We have made a policy decision that no-one under the age of 16 is to get hot drinks. In the past two months we have had two children who have been seriously injured by hot drinks within the ground. They required hospital treatment.
"We had major concerns about distribution of hot drinks to children under 16 following this. We can't carry on and allow children to scald themselves. We would be remiss if we sat back and did nothing."
