FEWER people identify as Christian and more people are non-religious in Bromsgrove than a decade ago, new census figures show.

Humanists UK ran campaigns in the lead-up to the censuses in 2011 and 2021 encouraging non-religious people to select "no religion".

The organisation said the recent figures should be a "wake-up call" for reconsidering the role religion has in society.

Office for National Statistics data from the 2021 census shows 54 per cent of people in Bromsgrove selected Christianity as their religion, down significantly from 69 per cent in the last survey a decade before.

About 37 per cent selected "no religion" last year, a leap from 22 per cent in 2011.

Of these, 47 people said they were agnostic, while 22 selected Atheism.

The area follows trends across England and Wales where 46 per cent of the population described themselves as Christian in the recent census, down from 59 per cent a decade earlier.

It is the first time the proportion has dropped below half.

The figures show more people in Bromsgrove identify as Muslim, with 859 selecting the religion last year, up from 502 in 2011.

Additionally, 670 residents said they were Hindu in the survey, up from 323 10 years ago.

There were 284 Buddhists and 94 residents who selected Judaism, 101 said they were pagans and four said they practice Heathenism.