A nightclub has sparked outrage after throwing out a gay couple for kissing.

Clubbers were shocked to see a pair of men escorted by doormen out of Shooshh nightclub, Croydon, in the early hours of Sunday December 4, minutes after they had been canoodling in the VIP area.

Shooshh manager Albie Saliba, admitted his staff had thrown out the pair but said such action would have happened to a heterosexual couple acting in the same way.

He said: "The way they were kissing was way over the top. They were asked to stop. If it was a guy and a girl we would have behaved in exactly the same way. There is no discrimination in this club."

One clubber, Ronnie Harris, 26, of Norbury, said: "I first caught them just out the corner of my eye. It is not something you see normally so I was sort of looking and not looking to see what was going on.

"The next thing two doormen had come up, picked them up beneath their arms, and took them out. It is quite disgusting to treat them like that, shocking."

The behaviour has been condemned by the Croydon Area Gay Society, who called on Shooshh, on Crown Hill, to rethink its attitude to the gay community.

Gary Mills, a committee member for the gay rights cause, said: “If all they were doing is kissing the attitude is very out-dated, they are not taking drugs or starting a fight, they are kissing.

“I would be very interested in speaking to this couple and taking their case to this nightclub. I think the club will find people’s reactions will quickly lead to a change in policy.”

Mr Saliba added: “One guy comes in here every week, we know him, so it wasn’t discrimination against him it was the way they were going about it. We warned them, people were complaining, people saying it was out of hand.”

He said the pair were lying on the VIP sofas kissing and touching.

He said: “They had too much to drink and they thought they were in a hotel room.”

In April, hundreds of gay couples descended on a pub in Soho, London, after a similar incident.

The protestors took part in a gay kiss-in, gathering outside the John Snow pub and kissing.