Nicole Lilliman, 27, was summoned to the office of the Tim Hortons franchise Wednesday and told video surveillance had caught her giving the child a Timbit -- a tablespoon-sized solid doughnut on Monday, the London Free Press reported Thursday.

"It was just out of my heart -- (the child) was pointing and going 'ah, ah'," she said. "I should have gone to my purse and got the change, but it was busy."

She said the three managers who summoned her fired her for theft and told her she had to sign the accusation before leaving.

She told the newspaper Timbits are routinely given away to dogs in cars at the drive-through window. Tim Hortons district manager Nicole Mitchell told the Free Press those cases involve "day-old and recycled" Timbits.

"Employees aren't allowed to give out free products and that's the bottom line," she said.