End in sight for Poland's bus route 666 to Hel

The 666 bus - as seen in this promotional image from Poland's PKS Gdynia bus company - usually runs during the summer along the Baltic coast

The popular bus route 666 to Hel in northern Poland is being changed to 669, after long-running complaints by religious conservatives in the country.

Route 666 - used by those heading for sandy beaches in the resort of Hel - has become a bit of a joke for some, including English-speaking tourists.

But some religious conservatives claim the route is "spreading Satanism".

The Bible identifies 666 as the "number of the beast", and Hel is just one "l" short of the English word "hell".

Following the complaints, bus company PKS Gdynia announced: "We are turning the last 6 upside down!"

Explaining the reason for the change, the firm's designer Marcin Szwaczyk told the trojmiasto.pl news website the number 669 was "less controversial".

While the association between 666 and the word "hell" may be lost on some Poles - as the Polish word for it is "pieklo" - a number of social media users in the country have condemned the coming change, which the bus company says is set to take place on 24 June.

"It was a worldwide advert," Krzysztof Nadolski wrote.

"I have often read about route 666 to Hel on foreign websites or Facebook groups. I am convinced there were tourists who would have probably arrived faster by train, but for fun they took bus route 666."

"What is Hel without 666," quipped Dawid Jastrzebski, while Kamil Galczynski argued that this was "a perfect example of how NOT to do marketing".

Another social media user, Robert Eryk Wozniak, wrote: "I think that the next step should be to change the name of the town of Hel to something else because it is against our Christian Polish roots!"

Poland is a predominantly Roman Catholic nation, where the Church has traditionally been influential.

Over the past few years, religious conservatives from one Polish group have complained that bus company PKS Gdynia is "spreading Satanism".

Route 666 usually runs in the summer along the Baltic Sea coast. The region boasts miles of sandy beaches, and is a popular tourist destination.