More than 3,500 responses were submitted over eight weeks after Ealing Council launched a public consultation in January on the introduction of a public space protection order (PSPO).

The local authority has been exploring a range of options on how to prevent “intimidation, harassment and distress” for women using the Marie Stopes clinic in the west London borough following a petition set up by local women.

Christians staging prayer vigils outside the site have previously denied any suggestion they harass or abuse patients.

Last year, one of the groups, the Good Counsel Network (pictured above) told Premier its members have been holding vigils outside for more than 23 years and their work is entirely peaceful.

In October 2017, Clare McCullough from the Catholic group said: “We’ve been holding daily vigils there for the last four years.

“There have never been any incidents there.

“There have never been any arrests of charges made there against anybody.”

John Hansen-Brevetti, clinical operations manager for the clinic, said people calling themselves “pavement counsellors” patrol outside the building daily, barring women’s paths, providing “biased” advice and showing them graphic images.

He said: “What it will do is create a zone of safety for our clients to come and access treatments without having to go through the kind…

The Supreme Court of India decided this week against detaining Amit Kumar Soren in custody while he awaits trial to answer claims he has incited hatred against the country’s Hindu majority.

Professor Soren, a professor at the Christian-run St Columba College in the eastern state of Jharkhand, was charged in 2016 over allegations disputed by fellow religious freedoms campaigners.

Alliance Defending Freedoms (ADF), a Christian organisation which supports believers under pressure for their faith, said: “The Supreme Court’s recent action provides some solace in the run-up to Easter, the most important time of the year for India’s ill-treated Christian minority.”

Tehmina Arora, the director of ADF India, added: “Professor Soren’s case just shows how absurd the allegations against Christians have become.

“He was falsely accused of inciting hate.

“The only thing he did was to organise a public gathering and stand up for religious freedom in India.

“He now faces up to three years in prison.”

ADF described Christians living in India as an ‘ill-treated minority’, adding there are reports of religious minorities in some parts of the country suffering violence on a “daily” basis.

The Christian organisation has also criticised a proposed law – the Religious Freedom Bill – in Jharkhand which it alleges is affectively a “far-reaching…

Francis disclosed the news as he bid farewell to inmates and staff at the Regina Coeli prison, where he washed the feet of 12 prisoners in a Holy Thursday ritual.

The 81-year-old frequently uses his visits to prisons to encourage inmates not to lose hope, and he repeated that on Thursday by telling the prisoners that they must clear their eyes every day so they can see and spread hope.

“At my age, for example, cataracts come and you don’t see reality well. Next year I have to have an operation,” he said.

He said the same thing happens with life, when disillusionment, errors and fatigue cloud the soul.

Francis urged the inmates to do a daily cleansing of their view on life – a “cataract surgery for the soul” – so they can keep hope alive.

The Vatican’s deputy spokeswoman, Paloma Garcia Ovejero, confirmed Francis was speaking about his own cataracts and is due to have surgery next year, though there were no details on when.

Francis is known to suffer from sciatica, which sometimes makes walking difficult.

He lost much of one lung due to an infection in his 20s, but otherwise seems to enjoy good health.

During the foot-washing ceremony, Francis knelt down and one by one, poured water over the feet of the twelve inmates, wiped them dry and kissed them. Most of the men then embraced the pope in thanks.

The 12 inmates included Catholics, Muslims, an Orthodox Christian…

Prince Charles started his three minute video by saying his heart goes out to people of all beliefs who are persecuted on religious grounds.

He then spoke about Christian persecution: “At this time of Easter, when our minds are recalled to the suffering of Our Lord 2,000 years ago, we think especially of those Christians who are suffering for their faith in many places around the world.

“I want to assure them that they are not forgotten and that they are in our prayers.”

He added that he had met many people who have had to flee for their life or suffer terrifying consequences for remaining in their country.

“I have been deeply moved and humbled by their truly remarkable courage and their selfless capacity for forgiveness despite all they have suffered.”

Prince Charles went on to speak of areas where there was potential reconciliation: “I have also heard that in the darkness there are small shafts of light, signs of resurrection and of hope that, slowly but surely, Christians who have had to flee from their homelands are beginning to return and to rebuild their shattered homes.

“Biblical lands such as Syria and modern Iraq were not always places of strife between people of different faiths – for centuries in many countries the three great Abrahamic faiths had lived side by side as neighbours and as friends.”

He added…