CHRISTIANS who claim Freemasonry is cursed by God and is the path to Satan are running a seminar in Swindon.

Bournemouth-based Free-dom Ministries International is behind the three-day event at The Bible Society in Stonehill Green, Westlea.

Freemasonry is a centuries-old, worldwide organisation which styles itself as a social and charitable organisation for men, albeit with certain secret ceremonies.

Derek Robert, director of the Free From Freemasonry seminar, expects at least 60 people to attend.

Mr Robert believes exposure to Freemasonry and other groups such as the Orange Order and the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes brings down the wrath of God.

But Freemasons say theirs is a godly group, and accuse the evangelists of intolerance.

Mr Robert said: "We are in Swindon today, tomorrow and on Saturday.

"During the first two evenings, we teach about fundamental Christian issues, and on Saturday it is curse-reversal worship."

The group is against organisations whose members are bound by oaths many fundamentalist Christians believe that any oath is blasphemous unless it is made to God.

Freedom Ministries International believes that people living today can be cursed and subject to demonic torment even if it was not them but an ancestor who made such an oath.

Mr Robert added: "We get people to speak out in rejection of the blood oaths and curses made in the Masonic lodge.

"As a result, we have had accounts coming in of people who have had all manner of health problems cured."

The group believes the curse of Freemasonry can cause health problems ranging from heart trouble to cancer.

However, John Hamill, spokesman for the Masonic United Grand Lodge of England, which oversees the country's 300,000 freemasons, dismissed the claims, saying they would be libellous if aimed at any one individual.

He added: "These fundamentalists have this great belief that, because Freemasonry welcomes men of all religions, we are therefore anti-Christian and more or less the sons of Satan.

"Like many born-again groups, they believe they are right and everybody else is wrong, and they are not willing to discuss or read about the organisations they attack."