Seven trainee priests walk into a bar – and get turned away because they are mistaken for a stag party in fancy dress.

It was, for a moment, no joke on Saturday when the group of Catholic seminarians was initially refused service at the City Arms pub in Cardiff after visiting to celebrate the ordination of one of their number.

But everyone soon saw the funny side after the pub's assistant manager ushered them back to the bar and offered the men a free round of drinks for their troubles.

The outing came after the ordination of Fr Peter McClaren at Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral of St David earlier in the day.

The group was told by a bartender that it was policy not to grant entry to fancy dress parties or stag dos.

'Upon hearing this, our initial impression was that this was a joke until it became clear that this was not the case and he was, in fact, serious,' one the priests told Wales Online.

After trying to explain to no avail that they were in fact students for the priesthood, with two of them having recently been ordained deacons, they turned to leave.

But the assistant manager then approached the group and reassured them that he accepted who they claimed to be, and invited them back in.

'By way of apology, he then very graciously provided us with a round of drinks, at which point the group decided to stay, provoking an outburst of applause from the locals casually enjoying a pint.'

To add to the merriment, one of the bar staff discovered that one of the visiting priests was called Reverend James – the name of one of the brewery Brains's most popular beers.

Now, the seminarians plan to return to the pub. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cardiff said: 'We'd like to thank the City Arms for being good sports through all of this and their kind gesture to our seminarians – and please note a number of our clergy, including the Archbishop of Cardiff, frequent your bar so don't turf any more out please!'