A BABY only months old was one of three children dumped at Atherton McDonald's yesterday while their parents went drinking at a local pub.

Child Protection officers are investigating.

Atherton police were called to the restaurant at 4.30pm when staff became concerned about the welfare of the children who were left to fend for themselves.

They were unsupervised for almost two hours before police tracked down a family member, who had not been drinking, at a local pub to collect the children.

McDonald’s franchise owner Greg Dowling, a former rugby league player who also writes a column for The Cairns Post, said the mother of the children came into the store, bought them some food then left.

"I was extremely concerned for the welfare of the small child," he said.

"It could not have been any older than nine months and the rest would not have been any older than 10 (years)."

Mr Dowling said yesterday was the first time he had contacted police about parents dumping children but it was common practice.

"This happens quite a bit, parents drop the kids off at the play equipment and leave,’’ he said.

"I did something about it this time because I thought it was too much pressure for the kids to be looking after the baby."

Atherton police officer-in-charge Sen-Sgt Peter Howard said the children were in good health and were not distressed.

"We will refer the matter to the Mareeba District Child Protection Investigation Unit," he said. "There is no offence in leaving children at McDonalds but an investigation will be carried out to ensure that no ill treatment of the children is
going on."

The incident comes two weeks after Premier Anna Bligh announced a crackdown on parents dumping children while they went to casinos and pubs.

Under the proposed legislation, police will have greater powers and parents who abandon their children could face up to three years’ jail.

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