A TALK by international film-maker Ken Loach in Bradford on Avon proved so popular that around 50 people who turned up for the free event at St Margaret's Hall were turned away.

Mr Loach, who lives in Bath, was speaking about his latest film I, Daniel Blake, at an evening organised by Flossie Battle, a trustee of The Hub@BA15, which supports people in the town struggling with debt and poverty and runs the Bradford on Avon Foodbank.

Ms Battle said: "It was an amazing evening, he was such a humble man and spoke brilliantly, and then answered questions from the audience, who gave him a standing ovation.

"One of the wonderful things was that it was a free event, because there are people who come to The Hub for the debt centre and the foodbank who we knew would love to see Ken Loach, but charging them a fee seems a bit disingenuous."

A generous anonymous donor from Bradford covered all the costs of the talk last Thursday, including the hire of the hall and publicity, and also made a donation to a charity of Mr Loach's choice.

Donations made by the 190 people who crammed into the hall will go to The Hub, on Church Street, and Ms Battle said she was amazed to find these totalled £864.

One of the people who was refused admission last Thursday, who asked not to be named, said: "I have had experience of homelessness, which is why I wanted so much to meet him. I love the work he does and really admire him."

She and a friend arrived at the hall before the talk's advertised start time to find people queuing up the ramps either side of the hall's entrance to get in, and said: "We were confronted by this woman who put this barrier up and said the hall was closed. There was no announcement. They said it was for safety reasons.

"I found it a little bit naive that they did not anticipate having a big audience and they should have got a bigger venue."

Ms Battle said: "We had a fire capacity and we had said it was open seating and first-come-first-served. We opened at 7pm for a 7.30pm start and had to turn people away at or before 7.25pm. Some people wanted to know why the publicity was not more widespread."

The talk was organised at short notice, two days after the 71-year-old's birthday, as having accepted the initial invitation he said he was unable to speak in public until after the general election, meaning it was organised and announced only a week earlier. "We were very lucky that the hall was not booked for that night," Ms Battle said.

Mr Loach has been a champion of homeless people and those who experience inequality through poverty since the 1960s, when his now-famous film Cathy Come Home brought the issue to national attention.