A bar and nightclub's Christmas advertising campaign has led to a protest from church leaders and police action.

Complaints flooded into Club 101, in North Street, Keighley, after posters with the words 'We love Jesus 'cause he gives us an excuse for a p***-up' appeared in the windows.

Church groups claimed they were offensive to Christians and demanded that they be removed.

Steve Tunstall, secretary of Central Keighley Churches Together, wrote to the club complaining about the words.

The letter read: "Whilst I would be the first to agree from personal experience that Christians do indeed love Jesus, this is solely because they know him as the Lord and Saviour."

He asked for the posters to be removed and went on to say that 'this offensive language will cause deep distress to a large number of Christian people in Keighley'.

Another letter to the club from Canon Patrick Delaney, of St Anne's Catholic Church in North Street, branded the posters 'both disgusting and obscene'.

The letter read: "...You would do yourself a favour, and all right-thinking people, if these offensive posters were removed forthwith."

Club manager Steven Pritchard, who has since removed the posters from the windows, says they were never intended to offend anyone and he believes a 'big thing was made out of nothing'.

He told the Keighley News: "The posters were a light-hearted view of one of the most stressful times of year. But it was a joke that was met with stern rebuff from churches in the area.

"We believe that Christmas is a time for celebrating not just the birth of Christ, but the getting together of families and meeting friends and relatives you may not have seen for some time.

"We have a friendly, safe atmosphere and provide entertainment for such people."

Keighley police Sergeant Allan Gee confirms that the police had received complaints about the poster. "An officer visited the premises and advised staff it would be in their best interests to remove the poster," he says.

Opinion, page 10

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