An outspoken priest has scolded mothers at a First Communion ceremony in Gortin for ruining their daughters’ big day by melting over their white dresses due to the hot weather.

Fr Derek Kneeler, 54, also lambasted the local spray tan salon which was offering a £20 full body spray First Communion special.

“These women were showing up pure orange. And with the hot weather and the heating on in the chapel, I could see half of them with streaks down their faces and struggling in general to see. Then the photos after were a disaster. The young girls’ dresses looked like Armagh flags because the mothers were hugging them. That salon should be burned to the ground.”

One father was suspected of having had a tan on but he denied the accusation, claiming he just drank too much Lucozade that morning.

Meanwhile, three potholes near Cookstown have been shortlisted for the next Wonder of the World.