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Greggs the bakers has apologised for swapping Jesus for a sausage roll in a promotional image for its advent calendar.

It shows a nativity scene with three wise men gathered around a pastry instead of Christ.

Christian Twitter users said the advert was disrespectful to their religion.

"I'm glad Christians kicked off and Greggs apologised," wrote one Twitter user. "No other religion would stand for that nonsense."

Other people joined in calls for organisations to "respect all faiths equally".

Greggs has apologised for the image, saying it hadn't planned to upset anyone.

"We're really sorry to have caused any offence, this was never our intention," the firm said in a statement.

The image was issued to promote a £24 advent calendar which has vouchers to spend in its stores behind each door.

The UK Evangelical Alliance tell Newsbeat it is "not too outraged" about the Greggs nativity scene, but that it does raise issues of companies using the Bible story to sell products.

"Every year some company creates a Christmas controversy for commercial gain. It seems to get earlier each year," says Daniel Webster, spokesperson for the organisation.

He says Jesus is what should be the focus of Christmas celebrations, not advent calendars and marketing to sell sausage rolls.

"That's the scandal that should be talked about this Christmas, not processed outrage to sell processed food."

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