A complaint has been made to police over a banner declaring a former gay bar in Sunderland city centre has now gone "straight".

The sign outside the Retox bar, in High Street West, read: "Retox under new management! Now Straight! Top totty dancers on match days!"

A police inquiry is under way into a complaint that the sign, which has now been taken down, was offensive.

The bar owners said it was never their intention to offend.

Assistant manager Carl Lovett said: "We admit it was not the best banner but there was never any intention to cause offence."

Mainstream switch

He said it had been removed and replaced with a sign advertising a rock night.

The bar, which opened as a seven-days-a-week gay venue in January, decided to switch to becoming a mainstream premises after failing to attract enough customers.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said officers had asked Sunderland Arch, a community group dedicated to minority issues, to help resolve the complaint.

He said: "On 12 May police received a complaint about a sign displayed in the window of Retox bar in High Street West, Sunderland.

"Police are working with Sunderland Arch to find an appropriate resolution to this complaint."

Courtesy of the BBC