A YOGA club is to be forced out of its home because church leaders believe the classes are “spiritually confusing”.

Trustees of Bridge Methodist Church in Radcliffe voted to stop Radcliffe and District over 50s yoga group meeting there because, they said, its teachings “confused the distinctiveness of the Christian faith”.

The decision has angered group organisers, who have previously been supported by Age Concern, Bury South MP Ivan Lewis and GPs.

The group, which has 30 members aged from 50 to 82, has met at the church, in Milltown Street, twice a week for a decade, and there were no problems until the end of last year.

Age Concern formed the group in 2000 and funded it for two years. When that money ran out, yoga tutor Olivia Rigby and co-founder Iris Turner took over and obtained more funding.

After it lost funding last October, Mrs Turner wrote to the church’s minister, the Rev Amanda Roper, asking for a discount on its £60-a-week rental fee.

But church trustees turned down the appeal and decided to terminate the rental agreement from this September, leaving the group homeless.

They were concerned that, because of yoga’s Hindu and Buddhist roots, the classes could conflict with church teachings.

Rev Roper said people might also read events listings and assume the class was evangelical.

Mrs Turner said: “Our members are intelligent and can decide for themselves about what they want to do.

“It is not a religious class. It is for exercise and relaxation and our tutor is a qualified yoga therapist. GPs can send people here and Mr Lewis acts has acted as our referee.

“We invited Rev Roper and the church elders to see the group in action, but they have not come.”

She added: “Rev Roper has expressed strong personal views against the practice of yoga.

“Her views, in our opinion, are extreme and bear no relationship to our yoga sessions which are for exercise and relaxation.

“We cannot understand why, after 10 years of harmony, she is asking us to leave.

“We are hurt, disappointed and offended by her implications.

“To be asked to leave is an insult and most upsetting for all concerned.

“Radcliffe is a regeneration area and we are embracing and contributing to our local community by providing this amenity for older people.

“The Bridge was perfect for us and has been for the last 10 years but, unfortunately, due to the arrival of Rev Roper, we are no longer welcome.”

Rev Roper, who joined the church full time last September, has refuted the allegation that it was her decision alone.

In a statement read out in church on Sunday, she said: “We are extremely saddened that this situation has developed, as the group has been well cared for by the church in the past.

“But after reviewing its letting policy, the church took the decision not to allow groups which have their foundation in other spiritual or religious practices, permission to use their premises. We have come to the belief that the teaching implied through the spiritual and physical exercises, and within the disciplines of such groups, confuses the distinctiveness of the Christian faith. The group has been given a generous period of notice. We will not be renewing their license and we are sorry that they have seemed unable, so far, to find alternative premises.”