A movie theatre has trespassed two women after they brought their own food in and became embroiled in a heated debate with staff when asked to leave.

Police were called and the group was kicked out of a cinema, the operations manager said.

The drama started on Tuesday afternoon while a group was watching a movie at Pukekohe’s Cinema 3. Part of the incident was caught on video by one of the women and posted to TikTok.

Footage shows a staff member asking the customers, who had children with them, to leave.

“Let’s call the police,” the employee is heard saying, taking out their phone, and saying the action is because the patrons have broken “the rule for food”. A child can be heard crying off camera.

An off-camera voice can be heard commenting on the employee’s race.

A caption on the video claims they agreed to put the snacks away when asked but “we not gonna stop kids from eating”.

The video was posted on TikTok on Tuesday night and had received 125,000 views 24 hours later.

A second video, which had 125,000 views before being taken down on Wednesday, showed operations manager Robert Greig.

“We can’t really operate as a business if we start letting people bring in all their own food and drinks,” he is filmed saying.

A voice off-camera asks whether he can issue a refund “while we’re dealing with police”. A police officer is visible behind him.

The Herald has approached the woman who posted the videos for comment.

Greig told the Herald he became aware of the TikTok video on Wednesday morning.

He was offsite on Tuesday when he received a call from staff about a “developing” incident where customers had brought in “a lot” of outside food.

“Beverages, snacks, hot food, you name it.”

He confirmed the group was asked to remove the food, or vacate the cinema and receive a refund.

He claims the situation “escalated” from there.

Greig declined to comment on the exchange between the customers and the employee. “I can’t speak to exactly what was said between the members of the public and my staff because I wasn’t there,” he said.

“What I can tell you is members of my staff were made to feel unsafe. Some comments were made to them that made them very upset.”

When he arrived at the cinema the group complied with his request to leave the theatre and resolve the issue in the lobby.

“By that stage, the police had actually already been called. And they turned up shortly after that,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve had to call the police.”

A police spokesperson said they were contacted at about 4.45pm on Tuesday about two women refusing to leave the premises.

“Our staff attended and verbally trespassed the pair, who left without further incident.”

In New Zealand, it is standard policy for cinemas to prohibit outside food.

Cinema 3 has five signs posted around the premises.

“The exact wording is ‘no outside food or drinks allowed’,” Greig said. Consequences aren’t listed, but “communicated to the customer”.

He said food sales were critical.

“If we don’t have these policies and enforce them, we might as well not operate as a business because there’s just no way we would survive on ticket sales.

“We’re getting to the point now where we certainly can’t increase our prices.”

Standard adult tickets at the cinema cost $21.50, students $19.50, seniors $15.50 and children $15. A combo – drink, popcorn and icecream – costs $17 for the smallest size.

Customers bringing their own food to the cinema “does happen often”, Greig said.

Kiwi cinema-goers have confessed to the Herald before about taking their own snacks.

The Pukekohe incident has stirred up debate around whether it’s appropriate to do so, and what should happen when an establishment’s rules are broken.

This incident was mentioned on the Franklin Grapevine community Facebook page on Tuesday night.

“Cinema3, my personal experience, always been great, to see that TikTok where outside snacks were being forbidden to be eaten inside by a child & resulting to the cops been called to escort them out, reading the comments made me feel sad for our community,” someone commented. “At the end of the day rules are rules, we must follow, but communication must be transparent too. Keep supporting our local cinemas.”

Commenters called it a “waste of police resources” and said movie snacks were overpriced. Others stressed the importance of following rules. One defended Cinema 3, saying it had “the best choc top icecreams out of any cinema I’ve been to”.

Many admitted to sneaking food into cinemas. One group member told their “son to go buy snacks at Countdown before going into the movie”, while another claimed to have taken in “a whole cake”.

“I always take my own snacks in,” one wrote. “Especially here in Puke.”

Members of the Franklin Grapevine defended dietary requirements.

“As a coeliac and dairyfree I bring my own snacks, I also let them know,” one poster said.

“We always take our own snacks as myself and my son have dietary issues and we can’t be certain the food there won’t make us sick.”