The Prince of Wales has been asked to give a witness statement to a public inquiry about a paedophile bishop convicted and jailed for abusing young men.

Prince Charles has been approached by lawyers acting for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse which is investigating the disgraced bishop Peter Ball.

The former bishop of Lewes and of Gloucester was sent to prison for 32 months in 2015 after he admitted abusing 18 teenagers and young men between the 1970s and 1990s.

His abuse was first reported to the police in 1992 but charges were not brought and instead Ball accepted a caution and resigned.

The Prince of Wales had exchanged letters with Ball. A separate independent inquiry found last year that Ball had exploited his contact with members of the Royal family but found no evidence that the heir to the throne nor any other member of the Royal family had “sought to intervene at any point in order to protect or promote Ball”.

In 2015 Ball's sentencing hearing heard that the Crown Prosecution Service had received 2,000 letters of support for the bishop "including letters from cabinet ministers and Royal Family" when it was first investigating his crimes in 1992.

The relevant member of the royal family was not named.