Prayers are still on the agenda at the beginning of North Wiltshire District Council meetings after a narrow majority overturned a motion to abolish them.

The long-held tradition of sharing a prayer and reciting the Lord's Prayer came under threat because of fears of alienating non-believers.

Coun Christine Reid, a practising Christian, proposed the prayers at the start of the meeting should be scrapped in the interests of creating an inclusive and non-discriminatory community.

"I want to see everybody in the district council engaged in our activities, and the views and feelings of non-Christians taken sincerely and treated equally," she said at the meeting on Tuesday.

"Having prayers at the start of the meeting when a substantial number of people wish to have no part of them is an alienating experience for them."

She suggested a quiet room be set aside before each meeting where members who wished to pray or collect their thoughts could do so without imposing it on everyone else.

Coun Reid's views were supported by Coun Philip Allnatt, another practising Christian, who said he felt uncomfortable taking part in prayers at the meeting.

"We live in a secular society and for me prayer is an intimate act of communication between a person and their perception of a creator," he said.

But Coun Christine Crisp disagreed and voiced her support for the Church of England as the established church of the country.

"If we discontinue the tradition, are we gong to sever the association with Remembrance services and carol services?" she said.

"If the council does not support these services I think it is a sad thing."

Members also considered inviting people of other faiths to come and share a prayer at the beginning of the meeting, or simply sharing a period of reflective silence. But an amended motion, suggesting the prayers should be abolished and replaced by a moment of silence, was defeated by 24 votes to 22.