A homeless man pleaded with security guards to leave him alone after they began to mop the floor he was sitting on.
The homeless man had been sitting outside a Nationwide bank branch – next door to the McDonald’s where the security guards had been working.
The disturbing incident took place at around 10:36pm on Saturday night in the middle of Victoria Street in London.
One member of the public filmed the shocking treatment of the homeless man and shared it on social media.
In the video, one of the security guards can be seen trying to stop him from filming.
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When the guard begins to mop next to him, the rough sleeper tries to move his sleeping bag and duvet away from the water, as it pours on them.
The homeless man repeatedly begs: “Leave me alone!”
However, the guards can be seen kicking the man’s belongings out of the way.
In the background of the video, members of the public could be heard describing the situation as “outrageous” and “bang out of order”.
The footage has already been viewed more than half a million times since being posted last night.
Damon Evans, who posted the footage on X, formerly known as Twitter, tagged McDonald’s UK and added: “Do you think it is acceptable for your staff to soak the sleeping bags of homeless people in the middle of winter (or any other time of the year)?
“Disgusting behaviour. He wasn’t even outside your premises.”
In response to a comment, Mr Evans added: “As you will see in the video, other people also came to his defence. Fair play to them.”
McDonald’s UK replied to the footage and said: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It is not one of our employees but a third-party security guard.”
They have also requested more information about the incident so it can be raised urgently with the security guard’s employer.
Viewers were outraged by the behaviour, with @Stephen25962076 tweeting: “That is utterly atrocious behaviour. Assaulting the most vulnerable people in society.”
@theretrojames75 added: “Where has the empathy gone in society? Honestly…what has happened to people?”
@CPatrickPlay echoed this sentiment: “Appalling. Where’s the compassion?”
