A CHURCH minister calling for the removal of a “vulgar” advertising campaign for an upcoming show says he stands by his comments – as the debate over the posters' decency rumbles on.

Rev Peter Simpson says he has received backing from the Penn Free Methodist Church and several church ministers after demanding the Wycombe Swan pulls the promotional posters for the Girls Night Out show.

The show, likened to The Full Monty, follows a group of women on a hen night and a troupe of male strippers performing at the 'Feast of Flesh' contest.

It starts a week-long run at the theatre next month.

Rev Simpson says the image of a naked man, holding a thong in his hand with just the Girls Night Out logo to cover his modesty, was “highly offensive” and an “appalling example to children” (see link).

The story kicked off a debate on the BFP website, while Three Counties Radio discussed the morals of the story on air on Tuesday, with Rev Simpson and the show's producers defending their corners.

A host of letters also flooded into the BFP office this week, questioning the church minister's comments.

Christine Jennings, a practising Christian and vicar's wife, said there was “nothing remotely sexy or lustful” about the posters and she had already booked her ticket for the show.

The Lane End resident added: “To link this poster to the sexualisation of children and teenage pregnancies is frankly ridiculous.”

While Michael Wingert called the comments “unfortunate” following the recent child abuse allegations surrounding the Catholic Church.

But Rev Simpson said that had “nothing to do with him” as he is not a member of the Catholic Church and “those involved in that are not Christians even if they use the name”.

He added that he stands by his comments the advert is “inappropriate” and stressed he does not want the show to be banned but he wanted to “make people think about the direction our society is heading in.”

He said: “I have received the backing from church ministers and the letter of complaint I handed to the Swan was signed by members from my church – it was a joint effort.

“There have obviously been a lot of people who disagree with me, which I expected, but my primary motivation with this is to make people think about where society is going.

“Images such as this are becoming more and more common place, you have school girls dressing up in short skirts and it's time we grasped the nettle and made a stand.”

The Wycombe Swan's Hannah Brooks said ticket sales received a boost last weekend following Friday's story, which “definitely helped the profile of the show”.

But Rev Simpson said: “My point is not to get the show banned, if people want to go and watch it, that's fine.

“I'm just trying to point out what it says about our society when people want to go and watch a show which has on its posters 'sheer enjoyment – no batteries required' and is hailed by reviewers for having 'plenty of naked flesh on show'.”