POOLE Hospital has dismissed claims it refused to serve hot cross buns to patients on Good Friday amid fears the cakes might offend ethnic minorities.

In many historically Christian countries the sweet-tasting buns, which are made with currants and yeast and are topped with a cross symbolising the crucifixion, are traditionally eaten on Good Friday.

Yesterday the hospital insisted the reason that the Easter treats were not served on the wards on Good Friday had nothing to do with religious beliefs, but was the result of an oversight.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "It was an oversight by the catering manager.

"We apologise for this, but the mistake was rectified and hot cross buns were served on Sunday."

Angry kitchen staff at the hospital contacted the Daily Echo at the weekend, claiming they had been inundated with calls from nurses saying patients were disappointed not to have got any buns.

The email from kitchen staff said: "We the kitchen staff of Poole Hospital were disgusted to find that the patients were not getting hot cross buns this morning.

"The manager of the catering department said he was worried about the ethnic minorities that work here."

It is not the first time the cakes have courted controversy.

In 2003 several local authorities in England banned schools serving hot cross buns on the grounds of political correctness.

Protestant monarchs in England saw the cakes as a dangerous relic of Catholic beliefs, as they were originally baked from consecrated dough, used in the making of the communion wafer.

There were attempts to ban them, but they proved too popular and instead Elizabeth I passed a law permitting bakeries to sell them, but only at Christmas and Easter.