A London priest has said you can quit being gay like you can with smoking cigarettes or using drugs.

Peter Ratcliff, a vicar of St John’s Church of England in Colliers Wood, south-west London, came to an American evangelist’s aid after his arrest last week.

Last week, Tony Miano was held for around six hours after he preached homosexuality was a sin on Wimbledon streets as the international tennis event took place.

In a YouTube video, police can be seen approaching the 49-year-old to question whether he had been offending public order. He was later arrested and released without charge.

Ratcliff accused police of being ‘manipulated by homosexuals’ and demanded a public apology.

‘If anybody should be charged with hate it is his accuser who appears to have sworn at him,’ he said.

‘In the USA there are now groups of ex-homosexuals who have been able to repent of homosexuality in the way that one might for example give up cigarettes or drugs.’

Ratcliff is possibly referencing ‘ex-gay’ groups like Exodus International, which recently closed its doors admitting ‘gay cures’ did not exist and apologizing to the gay community.

The British priest added: ‘I call upon Merton police to publicly apologise for such high handed use of the law and for allowing themselves to be manipulated by homosexuals who are evidently trying to silence those who not merely have Biblical and moral objections to homosexuality but are proclaiming the way of eternal life through Jesus Christ to all people regardless of their present circumstances.’