AN imam was filmed in a Church of England cathedral the night before Remembrance Day reciting the Islamic call to prayer.

Video of the imam wearing a white robe was taken last Saturday at Blackburn Cathedral and posted on the internet.

The call to worship was part of a performance of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man (A Mass For Peace) in the nave of the cathedral, organised by the Blackburn Music Society.

The second movement is a traditional Muslim call to worship recited in Arabic and the imam was chosen to deliver it by the Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum.

Speaking in Arabic, the imam said: "Allah is the greatest; I bear witness that there is no other God but Allah; I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

The recitation was made as part of a concert to commemorate the armistice and was reportedly carried out without the church's permission.

Peter Howell-Jones, the dean of Blackburn Cathedral, told The Sunday Times: “I don't think this should have happened here.

"If people are going to call for my resignation there's nothing more I can say or do to people to pacify them because actually I agree with their arguments."

If the booking was made now "the answer would be . . . you are very welcome to do the piece but not the call to prayer bit", he added.

According to the Sunday Times he only realised that the Muslim call to prayer was in the piece shortly before it began at 7.30pm and did not want to upset anyone by removing it.

Lord Carey, a former Archbishop of Canterbury, said it was important for Christianity and Islam to get on together as world faiths.

He said “let’s not make too much of a fuss about it" but added “I don’t think that without permission I have any right to go into a mosque and preach a Gospel sermon…and I would make that as a parallel”.