Railway company battered after offering free scones to 1st class passengers to celebrate Coronation

A British rail company has sparked fury after revealing it is offering free scones to First Class passengers only this week to celebrate the royal event.

With the Coronation of King Charles III happening on Saturday (6 May), many businesses are putting on some extra little touches to mark the occasion.

In a tweet, the East Midlands Railway advertised that on Thursday and Friday (4 and 5 May) it would be offering “a limited number of scones” free to passengers travelling to London in First Class.

They wrote: “To help celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III this weekend, we'll be giving out a limited number of scones onboard our services to London to First Class passengers tomorrow and Friday.”

Before the company limited who could reply to the tweet, it drew some strong criticism in the replies about the preferential treatment for the rich.

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One annoyed customer mocked: “Oh thank you EMR, thank you. Might there be crumbs available that I may lick from around the well heeled shoe of a First Class toff?

“Then I promise to tug my forelock & craw back to cattle class & take a chance on if there’s a trolley or not?”

Another pointed out: “A ‘limited number’ of scones to first class passengers only. Sums the Coronation right up.”

Someone else joked: “Me and the other povvos getting a sniff of the scones on our povvo carriages.”

“Sincerely it would have looked better to do nothing at all,” suggested another.

One Twitter user said: “The class issue in the UK in a tweet and basic example.”

An East Midlands Railway spokesperson said: “To celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III we are offering some First-Class Customers a complimentary scone. From time to time, we offer treats such as these and they are in line with the added value that a higher cost of a First-Class ticket affords.

”However, all our customers can join in the fun of the Coronation and to help people get into spirit we will be displaying Coronation bunting at some of our stations and handing out free special Coronation hand-waving flags and paper crowns.”

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