A gay and lesbian group has accused Morrells of Oxford of discriminating against them after the pub chain cancelled a disco at short notice.

Oxford's Gay and Lesbian Community Group hired The Rendezvous pub's function room, in Pennyfarthing Place, to hold their weekly disco last Saturday.

Toby WarnerThe group's community centre, in St Michael's Street, was damaged by a fire the previous Sunday, and they wanted to continue Oxford's only disco for gays and lesbians.

But the day before the event, with between 100 and 150 revellers expected, managers told the group the room would not be available.

Toby Warner, secretary of the group, accused Morrells, which own The Rendezvous, of homophobia.

He said: "The management told me it would dent the reputation of The Rendezvous, and that they didn't want the pub to be seen as gay-friendly."

Paul Beadle, chief executive of Morrells of Oxford, said the reason for the cancellation was that the room was being sub-let, which is against their policy, and because of the contents of the promotional flyers.

These included the words: "Please note that the toilets are used by everybody at The Rendezvous so we advise people to use them for their intended purpose to avoid any kind of unwanted trouble."

Mr Beadle said: "What are we supposed to make of that? Whatever it means, it's not the kind of advice that you should have to give to people going for a night out.

"This has got absolutely nothing to do with discrimination."

Mr Warner claimed the warning on the flyers was entirely innocent.

He said: "A lot of our members are quite camp and girlish and might flick water at each other in the toilet.

"We just wanted to make sure that that didn't happen at The Rendezvous."