CHURCH leaders warned yesterday that a grisly festive attraction could expose children to "evil forces".

Clergymen have written to bosses at York Dungeon asking them not to open Satan's Grotto.

The attraction features elves impaled on spikes and robins roasting over an open fire, while the traditional Father Christmas is replaced by a horned devil sprawling on a throne. His sleigh and reindeer have been ousted in favour of a coffin pulled by skeletons.

Visitors are handed gifts such as severed fingers and other body parts, and can write on a scroll to sign their souls away.

The minister of Acomb Baptist Church, the Reverend John Billingham, has complained to the Archbishop of York and City of York Council.

He said presenting occult practices as harmless fun was extremely foolish.

"Children going in there (the grotto) is one thing, but making requests to Satan is quite another," he said.

"Children are opening themselves up to evil forces. There is the potential for harm."

The Reverend Derek Wooldridge, who runs Christian summer youth camps, has signed Mr Billingham's letter opposing the grotto, as have other clergy in the city.

He said: "It's deliberately controversial."

Bestselling author and retired vicar Graham Taylor said: "They might think robins stuck on sticks and headless elves is fun, but it's not. I don't think it's fair. It's just another attack on Christianity.

"It also offends me because it is happening in York, which has been a centre for Christianity for thousands of years. It is beyond a joke."

Bernie Fleck, the dungeon's performance supervisor, said they had run the Satan's Grotto for four years without complaint and planned to open it on Monday.

He said: "It's meant to be tongue in cheek and a light-hearted way to get at the commercialism of Christmas."

York Dungeon boss Helen Douglas said: "We're not out to offend anyone, just to provide some welcome relief from an experience many people find even scarier than anything we have here at the dungeon."