Secularists are challenging the saying of prayers in local council meetings at the High Court today.

The National Secular Society (NSS) is taking Bideford Town Council in Devon to the High Court after receiving a complaint from one of its councillors, Clive Bone, about the prayers being said in meetings.

Mr Bone, an atheist, said that he was “disadvantaged and embarrassed” by having to participate in the prayers.

The council has defended the saying of prayers at meetings on the grounds of religious freedom and rejected Mr Bone’s request for a period of silence to replace the time of prayer.

The NSS said that the council should be a “secular environment concerned with civic business”. It claimed that the saying of prayers at council meetings was “inappropriate”.

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society said: “We are not seeking to deny anybody the right to pray, but we are challenging the appropriateness of prayers being conducted during council meetings.”

Lawyers for the NSS claim that the council’s actions are unlawful and that they breach the right to freedom of conscience and protection from discrimination guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The council’s defence is being funded by the Christian Institute.