A church in Loughborough has been accused of following "woke agenda" after changing the lyrics to the Christmas carol "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman".

All Saints with Holy Trinity in Loughborough added extra verses including the lines "God rest you also, women, who by men have been erased, through history ignored and scorned, defiled and displaced" and "God rest you, queer and questioning, your anxious hearts be still".

More traditional lines telling of the birth of the saviour were then omitted.

 Further concerns were raised over lyrics which were overly political.

The new version was sung during a carol service for the local mayor.

Many people have taken to social media to raise their objections to the new verses.

Rev Matthew Firth, former vicar of St Cuthbert's and Holy Trinity Darlington was one of them.

Speaking to Premier, he said: "The entire Gospel message has been airbrushed and been replaced by woke mantras and that wasn't necessary. I think when the Gospels are being replaced, I think that's quite important to sort of speak out on."

Sam Margrave, general synod from the Diocese of Coventry tweeted a picture of the changed lyrics along with the comment: "When they say we aren't ordaining political activists show them this... Absolutely disgusted an act of worship to our Lord & Saviour is being used to push political ideology contrary to Church teaching."

Premier contacted the church and is waiting for a response. A statement was provided by the Diocese of Leicester however.

"The 320 churches in the diocese each choose their own hymns and carols and represent a wide range of theological tradition and opinion, and this will naturally be reflected in the hymns and carols that are sung in particular churches.”