CHRISTIAN pacifists held a prayer vigil outside a Hartlebury rocket factory amid claims parts are manufactured there that are used in the bombing of Yemen by Saudi Arabia.

Midlands Christian Action (MiChA) saw around 25 people outside the Roxel factory protest and pray for the company to stop manufacturing engines for Brimstone and Stormshadow missiles.

The peace protest, on Monday (September 10) morning, involved participants contributing a range of prayers and hymns.

A spokesman for MiChA said they hoped to shine a light on the work of Roxel and the impact it can have.

The group, made up of Christians of different denominations including Methodists, Catholics and Quakers, said the UK had exported around £180m worth of missiles to Saudi Arabia since March 2013 and this had contributed to the deaths of 3,200 civilians.

Fr Martin Newell, a Catholic priest, said: "We believe we are called to speak out against the choice to profit from human suffering through the arms industry; an industry which perpetuates a spiral of aggression and injustice which is contrary to our faith in a loving and life-giving God.

“The scenes of devastation that have been documented in Yemen are appalling to people of any faith or none, and we cannot stand by whist a company on our doorstep is contributing to these horrifying events."

Roxel declined to comment on the protest.

This is the second time the factory has been the focus of protestors in six months. In April, a group called the ‘The People’s Weapons Inspectors’ blocked the site and attempted to carry out a weapons inspection.