Worshippers in Sweden have hit out at a religious newspaper after its website ran an advert showing British actor Sacha Baron Cohen posing as his latest comic creation, Bruno, religious officials said on Wednesday.

The advertisement appeared on the Internet site of the Kyrkans Tidning, a publication aimed at Church of Sweden members, and included clips from the film's trailer featuring a scantily-clad Baron Cohen.

In "Bruno", Cohen poses as a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashionista who goes to the US on his quest for fame.

Kyrkans Tidning editor Dag Tuvelius told AFP that readers bombarded the newspaper's office with calls to complain about the advert.

"Several readers called us and one or two were really annoyed," he said.

The Swedish branch of the Salvation Army, who had also paid for an advert on the newspaper's website, were equally unamused.

"What this film represents is not in line with our values. It is about a lifestyle that we do not support," Victor Poke, the chairman of the Salvation Army in Sweden, was quoted as saying by the Dagens Nyheter daily.

But despite the Kyrkans Tidning having taken down the clips, editor Dag Tuvelius said that Bruno is a film the newspaper should be able to promote.

The Church of Sweden, which is Protestant, says it has some seven million members out of a total population of nine million people.