Vicar ejected from bar for wearing sandals

A vicar was turned away from a Suffolk wine bar on Easter Sunday for “health and safety reasons” because he was wearing sandals.

Reverend Andrew Dotchin. Photo credit: Ipswich Star

As reported by Yahoo, reverend Andrew Dotchin was refused entry to The Wine Bar in Ipswich town centre when attempting to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with a pint.

“I’d done six church services and had finished Lent – I only have one pint a day during Lent. I thought ‘Christ has risen, let’s have a pint’. I went to a beer festival with my brother and some friends and had three or four pints and we decided to go to the wine bar for a last drink.

“The man on the door said no flip flops in here and I said ‘You’ve got to be kidding? Trust me, I’m a vicar’,” said Dotchin, vicar of Whitton, St Mary and St Botolph Parish.

“I only wear sandals, all year round. Socks are an instrument of the devil. There are no pictures of people wearing socks in heaven. I went to boarding school where we could only change our socks on Mondays and Thursdays, we all nearly had foot rot. Ever since then I’ve said no to socks.

“There’s a religious aspect too. I live with the simple things and when my feet get cold it helps me to remember those who can’t afford socks and shoes,” he added.

After the snub, the 59-year-old father of three was forced to end the evening at Vodka Revolution instead but is keen to brave The Wine Bar again as “they do great mojitos”.

The bar has recently taken a hardline against sandals after a man cut his foot on glass there during a busy night out.

“We don’t have a problem with sandals, but it was a busy night and it wasn’t worth the risk after the recent incident. We would welcome him back on a night that isn’t so busy,” said a spokesman for The Wine Bar.