THE Bishop of Worcester has called a decision to ban screenings of a cinema advertisement for the Church of England "extraordinary".

The film, produced by JustPray.uk, shows the Lord's Prayer being recited by members of the public ranging from bodybuilders to children, and was due to be shown before showings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens from December 18.

The minute-long ad received clearance from the British Board of Film Classification and the Cinema Advertising Authority, but Digital Cinema Media (DCM), which handles adverts for both the Odeon and Vue as well as Cineworld, has refused to show it saying it did not accept political or religious advertising.

The Rt Revd Dr John Inge, Bishop of Worcester, said it was an extraordinary decision.

"Until now I have tended to take with a pinch of salt claims by people of faith that religion in general and Christianity in particular are being discriminated against in our society, but this makes me think again.

"It's ironic in view of the fact that it remains the law of the land that all schools should have a 'predominantly Christian' act of collective worship every day.”

Prime Minister David Cameron is among those who have denounced the ban as "ridiculous".

However, DCM, which sells advertising to some of Britain's biggest cinema chains, defended its decision to keep the advert off-screen, saying some ads could cause offence to people of different faiths, political persuasions or those of no faith.

The agency said it treats "all political or religious beliefs equally".

In a statement, DCM said: "DCM has a policy of not accepting 'political or religious advertising' content for use in its cinemas.

"Some advertisements - unintentionally or otherwise - could cause offence to those of differing political persuasions, as well as to those of differing faiths and indeed of no faith.

"In this regard, DCM treats all political or religious beliefs equally."