A BAN on prayers before council meetings is 'absolutely ludicrous', the ex-Chairman of Wycombe District Council says.
An atheist ex-councillor from Devon, backed by The National Secular Society, took the issue to the High Court, which ruled in his favour on Friday.
Clive Bone said he was embarrassed and disadvantaged when prayers were said during Bideford Town Council meetings.
The judge ruled that the saying of prayers as part of a formal council meeting was unlawful.
Wycombe District Councillor Bill Bendyshe Brown read a prayer before every full council meeting during his spell as chairman, as has been the practice for years.
He blasted the ruling.
The Conservative councillor told the BFP: “I think it's absolutely ludicrous and even when we had a Muslim Chairman in Mahboob Hussain he read out the prayer as well.
“Everyone in the council is very much in favour of keeping the prayers.
“This is causing people to think about issues which are not really of major importance to council work at the moment.
“We have got some really big important financial decisions facing us.
"Concentrating on something as mundane as this is ludicrous.”
Conservative Minister, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, has said the new Localism Bill will enable councils to decide if they continue to say prayers at the start of meetings.
Cllr Bendyshe-Brown said: “I can't see it not continuing at Wycombe.
"I will be advocating for it continue that's for sure.
"I think it would be a very sad day if we ended up in a situation where prayers were banned.”
Meanwhile Princes Risborough's MP John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, has said the ruling will not stop prayers in Parliament.
