The faith minister has denied reports that the Government's new rules around Covid passports for large venues will include churches.

Lord Greenhalgh was responding to a tweet by Talk Radio which suggested night clubs, cinemas and churches would need to check if visitors had been vaccinated.

He said: "As faith minister I would like to make clear to everyone that the government is not going to make being double-jabbed a condition of entry to a place of worship. Talk Radio has got this wrong."

His comments come as vaccine minister Nadhim Zawahi outlined plans for the use of Covid passports in September.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: "Although we do not encourage its use in essential settings such as supermarkets, other businesses and organisations in England can adopt the pass as a means of entry, where it is suitable for their venue or premises and when they can see its potential to keep their clients or customers safe. 

"For proprietors of venues and events where large numbers are likely to gather and mix with people from outside their household for prolonged periods, deploying the pass is the right thing to do. The pass has an important role to play in slowing the spread of the virus, so we reserve the right to mandate its use in future."

As of this week, churches in England have had their restrictions lifted by the government.

It means congregational singing is once again permitted while mask wearing is no longer essential.