A number of Church of England bishops have called for homosexual couples to be allowed to enter civil partnerships in churches.

A proposed amendment to the Equality Bill to allow, as distinct from require, civil partnerships to be conducted in religious premises is believed to have gained the backing of some bishops in the House of Lords.

The move would open the door to the registration of civil partnerships in churches, synagogues, mosques and all other places of worship.

In a letter to the London Times yesterday, a group of senior clerics, including the Bishop of Salisbury, the Dean of Southwark and four retired bishops wrote that religious denominations should be allowed to choose whether to register civil partnerships on their premises.

“Straight couples have the choice between civil marriage and religious marriage. Gay couples are denied a similar choice. To deny people of faith the opportunity of registering the most important promise of their lives in their willing church or synagogue, according to its liturgy, is plainly discriminatory,” they wrote.

The Lords amendment to the Equality Bill is likely to be tabled in the next few days by Lord Alli, the openly homosexual Labour peer.

It is likely to be backed by the Conservatives and the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Rev Timothy Stevens, who convenes the 26 bishops in the House.

The amendment would remove the bar on religious premises and religious language being used for same-sex blessings under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.

It would also increase pressure on the established Church to take a more liberal line on same-sex relationships and widen the split over homosexual blessings and ordination in the Anglican Communion.

The Church of England will maintain its official ban on same-sex blessings, but this could be ignored by some clergy if the legislative prohibition is lifted.

The Government has yet to decide whether to back the amendment. Ministers are keen to avoid another confrontation with church leaders after being forced to back down over the employment of homosexual staff in religious organisations following a recent intervention by the Pope.

Last year, a Government minister said that same-sex civil unions should be held in churches. Junior Foreign Office minister, Chris Bryant, said he wanted clergy to be “much more open” to the idea of treating civil partnership ceremonies like traditional marriages.

However, a spokesman for the Equalities Office was non-committal on the subject, saying they would meet with different churches and “carefully consider the implications and hear views from all perspectives”.