The Methodist Church has welcomed news that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to consider cutting Britain’s nuclear arsenal.

Mr Brown made the pledge at an international conference in London yesterday.

He announced that Britain would be at the forefront of the move towards a multilateral deal on nuclear disarmament by cutting the number of Britain's operational warheads to fewer than the 160 at present.

The pledge was welcomed by the Methodist Church's Policy Adviser Steve Hucklesby.

Policy Adviser Steve Hucklesby said: “Russia and the US have between them hundreds of tonnes of weapons-grade uranium in their nuclear arsenals. In comparison, the UK nuclear weapons system is tiny and the possibility of reducing this further is welcome.

"However, the only offer that other nuclear states are likely to note is a complete decommissioning of all UK nuclear weapons. This would save the UK over £20 billion in investment on new nuclear submarines, an investment that simply does not make sense in a time of economic crisis.

“Nuclear powers must show that they are committed to the decommissioning of all nuclear weapons. This move is vital for global security. Only then will we be able to dissuade non-nuclear states from joining the nuclear weapons club.”