An unholy row broke out yesterday after it was revealed a church hall was used for a saucy strip show.

And yesterday a furious Anglican priest hit out at the organisers of the event at St. Anne's Church Hall in Southampton.

The news broke after a woman who attended the event contacted The Royal Gazette .

She said six dancers, both male and female, put on a sleazy show.

The woman, who asked not to be named, said: "The women were baring it all while the men wore G-strings.

"And some of the women were sitting in the laps of male patrons and cavorting.'' The woman heard about the show while she was drinking in a local bar with a friend. She paid $30 for a ticket for the event, which included a free bar.

She added she did not recognise the dancers -- but said she was told by other people at the party that they were locally-based.

St. Anne's parish priest Michael Davis said church authorities had no idea of the nature of the show when the hall was booked.

He said: "It wasn't a very nice thing to do in a church hall.

"It was a very unfortunate thing to have happened -- we have a nursery school there and the mothers and fathers of all these children will not be pleased either.

"We would definitely not condone this sort of thing, whether it's in a church hall or somewhere else.'' Rev. Davis said the hall was booked by Henry VIII bartender Neil Virgil for a night over the May 24 weekend.

He added: "He did it under the guise of the place he works. The Henry VIII have done quite a few favours for us -- they bake things for our fairs and things like that -- and we thought we were helping them.'' And he said: "The bartender was very sorry about it and tried to tell me these people were somewhere else and happened to drop in.'' Rev. Davis added that he had contacted Police in Southampton to complain about the show.

He said: "I understand these things are strictly illegal -- I reported the matter and that's all I can do.

"Unless someone is prepared to come forward and make a fuss about it, there is precious little anybody can do.'' Mr. Virgil could not be contacted for comment last night -- but a spokesman for the Henry VIII said the bartender had been disciplined.

The spokesman added: "It had nothing to do with the Henry VIII -- we had no knowledge of it at all.'' He said Mr. Virgil had talked to Rev. Davis, apologised and explained it had nothing to with him either.

The spokesman added: "We were upset because of the Henry VIII's on our involvement with the church. Mr. Virgil is very apologetic -- he is very involved with the youth of Bermuda and with charity events.

"Our understanding is that it was just a fun night which got out of control with the showing up of these people.'' The spokesman added: "It shocked me too -- I thought this was one thing we didn't have in Bermuda.''