ABOVE: The Damson Dene Hotel near Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria

The Damson Dene Hotel sparked outrage in America when it was reported by NBC News that Denby had decided to remove the Holy Bible in favour of E.L James’ erotic bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey.

He told NBC News that in a secular society it was “wholly inappropriate” to put a religious book in someone’s bedroom, and while Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged was his first thought for the swap, he settled on Fifty Shades of Grey because everyone was talking about it. Speaking to Stylist, Denby said: “I chose Fifty Shades, because so many of our guests were talking about it. They all told me it was a real page-turner.”

Hotel defends Fifty Shades Bible swap