Seven priests turned away from pub after staff thought they were on stag do

The group were celebrating an ordination

A group of trainee priests were turned away from a pub after a member of staff thought they were on a stag do.

The group were celebrating an ordination when they were barred from The City Arms in Cardiff.

They were forced to insist their clothes were not fancy dress and once the bar manager realised it was not a stag do, they were given their celebratory pints on the house.

"They arrived at The City Arms and they were dressed wearing the clerical collar,” said Father Michael Doyle, who was not in the group.

"The doorman basically said something along the lines of, 'sorry gents, we have a policy of no fancy dress and no stag dos'."

As the student priests began to leave, the bar manager came over and said: "You're real, aren't you?'"

"He invited them back in and when they walked back in the entire pub burst into a round of applause, and they had a free round off the City Arms," Fr Doyle said.

City Arms assistant manager Matt Morgan said it wasn't a common occurrence for a group of priests to visit the pub.

"At first one of our staff members thought the group were a stag party in fancy dress and suggested they might want to try another pub, as we generally have a quieter crowd of drinkers than others nearby," he said.

"When we realised our mistake we quickly apologised to the priests and thankfully they were all great sports and saw the funny side of the situation.

"It's not every day you have a group of priests drinking in the pub and they would be welcome back any time."

The Press Association contributed to this report