Minister thrown out of trendy nightclub that used to be his church

A MINISTER was stunned when he was ejected from a nightclub for collecting money for charity - because he used to preach there when it was a church.

The Rev Bob Brown thought he would be on safe ground asking for money in Aberdeen's trendy Soul Bar. But minutes after getting permission to enter from a member of staff, he was thrown out by a manager who had not been consulted.

Mr Brown, the brother of the former Scotland manager Craig Brown, said: "I thought it was quite ironic that we were asked to leave.

"The old pulpit is still in the building and I used to stand behind it and preach when the building was a church.

"But it was all very polite and we agreed to leave. The manager didn't want us bothering his customers, which I can understand."

Yomi Adebowale, the club's manager, said it had a policy of not allowing anyone to collect cash on the premises.

"We are generous and give donations to charity, but would rather organisations write to us so we can send them a donation," he said.

The listed church building was sold to a businessman in 1998 and reopened as the Soul Bar two years ago.