A 21-year-old black Bermudian has complained bouncers stopped him from entering a Front Street bar because of his race and nationality.

The Southampton resident says he was told he couldn't enter Bermuda Bistro at the Beach because his white shirt was in violation of its dress code.

In a letter to The Royal Gazette in today's edition on the following page, he claimed that security stopped him because he is black.

The man, who would not be named, said he was allowed inside the popular bar after he borrowed a jacket from a friend. There he noticed two men wearing "dirty white T-shirts and flip-flops".

"It was hard not to notice that the other two gentleman wearing white T-shirts were Caucasian foreign nationals," he said. "I must admit I felt singled out due to my race and nationality."

Bar owner Rick Olson yesterday flatly denied any wrongdoing or prejudice.

He said he hadn't been made aware of the incident but was certain his staff had acted appropriately.

"I don't even want to dignify this with a response," Mr. Olsen said. "We do not discriminate. White T-shirts are against our dress code and he was not within the dress code."

He added: "We have an outside security company handle the door.

"All of them are black so I find it unlikely that there was any discrimination there. This is why we hire an outside company to handle security to avoid incidents like this."

The man said he respected an establishment's right to institute a dress code but insisted it should be enforced fairly. And he insisted he was well-dressed that night in blue jeans and a "nice" white shirt.

"I approached one of the staff members and asked 'what is your policy in regards to white T-shirts?' It was explained that they were not permitted.

"After pointing out two others who had on white T-shirts I was told 'hey, what can I say?' and then the staff member walked off.

"Small establishments like this should realise that during the winter months, it's the locals who support their businesses when there are not many visitors."