Religious tensions boiled over in St Keverne when a group of Christians clashed with psychic medium believers.

An evening of clairvoyance at Mrs B's Tearoom was interrupted when members of the nearby church decided to stand outside praying for those attending.

Jo Langford Brown, who organised the event, said: "I'm absolutely mortified that people of the cloth can come and be so disruptive.

"It shouldn't have offended anybody."

Mrs Brown left the event and confronted the group outside her establishment, asking them to leave and threatening to call the police.

She said: "I had no idea what was going on. We said 'please can you keep the noise down, we have got a private meeting.

"She shouted 'no no no' and had her hands in the air saying 'God protect you' and all these crazy things."

But Reverend Deirdre Mackrill, Assistant Curate of St Keverne Church, said that clairvoyance poses a risk to people's mental health and that her prayer group was only trying to help.

She said: "There's always a risk when people dabble in the occult, calling on spirits.

"I know of three people who have gone down that route and suffered long-term serious mental health issues, some of whom might have been quite vulnerable if they have lost a loved one."

She added: "I think from a Christian's point of view there's plenty of biblical evidence about why people shouldn't engage in those kinds of activities. It's in fact wrong and dangerous.

"The power of prayer is immeasurable. When two or three, and we were more than two or three, gather together we have the power of the Lord God himself."

Mrs Brown has been interested in mediumship since her mother passed away more than 30 years ago.

She said: "It's comfort, you get to speak to people who you have loved and lost, I don't see any harm in that. I just want to get messages from people who aren't here any more.

"I certainly wouldn't try to shove my views onto these people, what gives them the right to shove theirs onto me?"

Reverend Mackrill denies that the group was being disruptive or intimidating, and says she offered to speak to Mrs Brown about the issue privately.

She said: "We weren't forcing our beliefs on them, we were just standing outside praying. That's not forcing anything on anybody.

"We were exercising our right to practice our beliefs, in public. We didn't infringe on their beliefs."

Mrs Brown has made a formal complaint to Reverend Peter Sharpe, Rector of the United Benefice of St Keverne, St Ruan with St Grade and Landewednack about the incident.