A Christian church at the centre of a planning dispute in Indonesia has been torn down, to the cheers of hundreds of radical Muslim protesters.

Hardline Islamists rallied to have the Bekasi Protestant Church torn down announced plans to expand their church after the church began expanding, in the latest display of rising religious intolerance in Indonesia.

The church has been operating on the same site near Jakarta for 13 years and wanted to expand to accommodate their growing congregation.

The church group secured more than the required numbers of signatures from local community supporters in order to get approval for the extensions, but local community leaders refused the request under pressure from local Islamists.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 2 minutes 54 seconds 2 m 54 s Indonesia correspondent George Roberts ( George Roberts ) Download 1.3 MB

Bekasi church reverend, Advent Nababan, told Radio Australia's Connect Asia the Muslim hardliners were not from the church's local area.

Hundreds of police, military and intelligence officers held back Islamist protesters from the site as churchgoers rallied for authorities to change their minds.

Leaders later ordered that the demolition go ahead.