Theresa May has pledged that her government will investigate a decision to prevent a visit to Glasgow by a delegation of Pakistani Christians.

The Prime Minister said that the Home Secretary Amber Rudd would "look into" the situation.

Earlier this month the Church of Scotland hit out at the Home Office complaining that red tape was harming its efforts to build links with other Christian communities.

The Church's Presbytery of Glasgow had vouched for two senior delegates from the Church of Pakistan.

They had been invited to the city as part of a twinning project between the Presbytery and the Diocese of Hyderabad.

Even though the Kirk said that it would pay for the trip the Home Office turned down the applications for entry to the UK.

Officials said that they feared the visitors would overstay their visas and remain in the UK as illegal immigrants.

At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons, East Renfrewshire MP Kirsten Oswald asked Mr sMay if she would tell the Church "why its visitors are not welcome and what messages she thinks it sends to our faith communities?"

Mrs May told her that the UK operated a "very clear" visa system and that decisions were "taken according to its rules".

But she added that her cabinet colleague Ms Rudd would "look at the case".

The Glasgow Presbytery has been encouraging people to write to their MPs to protest the decision.

Joint clerk of the Presbytery, Rev Dr Graham Blount said: “We are encouraged that Kirsten Oswald has responded to constituents who wrote to her to ask her to raise the issue in the House of Commons.

“The Prime Minister’s response that the Home Secretary will take a fresh look at the case is welcome.

“We are hopeful that the Home Office will positively respond to our request for a meeting to discuss the wider issues involved.”

Ms Oswald said that she hoped that the Home Office would look at the visa issue "as a matter of urgency".

The first stage of the twinning took place last year when Kirk members visited Pakistan.

The church says that it is concerned for Christians in Pakistan who, it says, like other minority faith groups in the country, face growing threats to their ability to practice their religion.

Earlier, Mrs May had said that Christians should be able to "able to speak quite freely about Christmas" in the workplace.

She had been told by Tory MP Fiona Bruce that many Christians "are now worried, even fearful, about mentioning their faith in public" .

Mrs May said: "Our Christian heritage is something we can all be proud of.

'I'm sure that we would all want to ensure that people at work do feel able to speak about their faith."