The new Archbishop of York, Stephen Cotterell is among the names of high-ranking clergy calling on the UK government to stop developing nuclear weapons. 

In a statement co-ordinated by the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament 168 Christian, leaders will urge Boris Johnson and his team to ditch trident and a further generation of nuclear weapons. 

The Archbishop of Liverpool Malcolm McMahon and Archbishop of Birmingham Bernard Longley have also signed the statement.

It comes as the world marks the 75th anniversary of the dropping of nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 

The bombings killed tens of thousands of people and caused environmental damage and suffering which many people continue to live with today.

Shortly after that, the international community officially rejected nuclear weapons and The United Nations wants a ban through an United Nations International Treaty. 

In the statement the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmanent says: 

"Sadly, 75 years on, that goal has yet to be met, and many nuclear-armed states, including the United Kingdom, are currently pursuing upgrades to their nuclear arsenals, spending hundreds of billions of pounds in the process.

"We believe that there capacity to indiscriminately kill millions of our brothers and sisters, and to catastrophically destroy God's creation, makes them contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ. Recent events have shown that the global community must work together to overcome the challenges facing us in the 21st century."

The statement will remain open for further signatories until 15th August when it will be presented to Downing Street.