A Canadian international doughnut chain apologized and rehired a woman fired this week for giving away a 16-cent doughnut to a child.

The Tim Horton corporation was deluged with complaints and criticism Thursday when news broke about 27-year-old Nicole Lilliman being fired Monday in London, Ontario.

The single mother of four was recorded on security cameras giving a nugget-sized doughnut called a Timbit to the child of a regular customer.

She told The London Free Press after the news broke, she received media calls from all over North America and TV crews were lined up outside her home.

The company issued a statement apologizing and blaming an overzealous junior store manager for her termination, the newspaper said.

Company spokeswoman Rachel Douglas said Lilliman will start at a different Tims outlet soon and be paid for lost time until then.

The Globe and Mail newspaper said the story drew one of the largest number of reader talkbacks since the inception of its Web site more than a decade ago.

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