Music has charms to soothe the savage beast, they say. And also to reduce teenage anti-social behaviour.
That’s the discovery of a Chesterfield branch of McDonald's which has started piping in classical music in an attempt to reduce the number of unsavoury incidents.
A year ago, the branch on Low Pavement in the town was a hotspot for anti-social activity – fighting, threatening staff and intimidating behaviour. At one point in August 2025, local police received 18 calls in a week about incidents at the branch. Franchise holder Walter Wright decided he’d had enough and, in an attempt to rid the branch of the louts, put in place a number of initiatives, including switching off wi-fi and charge points and, yes, playing classical music.
And in a BBC news feature, Wright claimed it’s done the trick. "It is important to me that everyone feels safe and welcome when visiting our Chesterfield restaurant, and we're encouraged by the impact these measures are having.”
"We're committed to being a good neighbour in the community and will continue to work closely with the police, council, and local sports groups to understand where we can provide support and play our part."
It’s a method that’s been successful at other McDonald's, in Wrexham, Welwyn Garden City and Stockport (though not Lewisham, whose local branch was once hymned by Mercury-nominated rapper Novelist). Northern Trains has tried the same thing in 48 of its stations, as have local councils in Barrow-in-Furness and Liverpool to disperse groups of teenagers.
However, in Liverpool this policy wasn’t supported by at least one of the city’s classical players. Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, Laura Macmillan, who plays violin in the Liverpool group Ian Prowse and Amsterdam, said that the council’s initiative made her “feel angry… There's always been this stereotype that classical music is for people who have lots of money and is too complicated for some people, and to weaponise it like this is appalling."
She added: "If you wanted to get rid of groups of young people, play something from K-Pop Demon Hunters, because no-one over the age of about seven wants to hear that song Golden anymore."
