LOCAL clergymen have joined the Bishop of Manchester in condemning a poster showing baby Jesus wearing a Father Christmas-style hat.

The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch has led a chorus of disapproval against the billboard image produced by the Churches Advertising Network.

The advertisement carries the message "Go on, ask him for something this Christmas."

Bishop McCulloch described the poster as "attention grabbing and easy sentimentality" and "certainly not what the incarnation is about".

The Rev Martyn Halsall of Christ Church, Walshaw, who is a columnist for the Church Times, said in the church magazine, Crux: "It's too clever by half, confusing the direct, even moving, appeal in the caption with a complicated and perhaps offensive image of a fancy-dress Jesus. The mixed metaphor is more likely to baffle non-Christians than attract them."

The Rev Andy Williams of St Andrew's Church, Whitefield, commented: "I think it trivialises the birth of the Saviour of the world. What are people going to think when they ask Him for a new Ferrari and don't get it. He's less reliable than Santa?"

The Churches Advertising Network defended the image, saying the poster "aims to help people start a conversation about who Jesus really is and what he has to offer."