A group of music fans have hit out at a pub after they were told to "Beat It" because their Jackson Five fancy dress get-up could cause offence.

Chris Turner, Gail Costello, Lesley Leighton, Belinda Treeloar and Tracey Ford paid tribute to the Motown legends by dressing up as the group on a Saturday night out last week.

But their "Thriller" of an evening turned "Bad" when they were thrown out of the Lord Rosebery pub in Scarborough, North Yorks., over fears their face paint could offend others.

Gail said:"The door staff had already told us they thought we looked great and were quite sheepish when they asked us to leave.

"I'm a massive Michael Jackson fan, as is Chris, and we always like to have theme nights so I thought it would be a good tribute.

"We didn't cause a fuss but it did put a dampener on the start of the night. We were offended to be thrown out."