An official at a Sikh temple was assaulted by having his tie grabbed during a mass protest against a mixed-faith wedding ceremony, a court has heard.

A trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told demonstrators shouted vile insults in Punjabi after forcing open the doors of the gurdwara in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, in September 2016.

The Crown alleges Gursharan Singh, 34, of no fixed address, assaulted temple committee member Bhopinder Singh Aujla after around 25 hooded protesters burst into the building at 6.45am on September 11.

Prosecutors also allege that Kulvinder Bir Singh, 38, of Tilehurst Drive, Coventry, damaged signs relating to the ceremony at the temple, which was also due to host two birthday parties.

Opening the case against the defendants, prosecutor Sophie Murray said: "The Crown case is that these two men attended the gurdwara temple as part of a group with the sole intention of disrupting an inter-faith marriage with which they disagreed."

The Leamington gurdwara is one of a small number of Sikh temples in Britain which stages inter-faith weddings, the court was told, and had experienced problems with protesters in the past.

Giving evidence from behind a screen as the trial's first witness, Mr Aujla said he was ashamed of those taking part in the protest.

Describing what happened around two hours before the wedding party was due to arrive, Mr Aujla told jurors another official received a call from a security guard warning him that men were "rushing" the gates.

After CCTV from inside the temple was shown to the jury, the witness told the court: "Once I'd locked the door I went towards the dining room just to alert my colleagues that there were people outside banging the doors.

"As we came back into the foyer, we saw people rushing in through the front doors and we just moved out of the way.

"I just stood there amazed to see people with heads covered and wearing scarves.

"Some of the folks that came in were swearing, using abusive language. I just started moving out of the way, feeling frightened, and the next thing you know one of them tried to grab me between the legs.

"Another one of his colleagues grabbed me quite tightly by my tie and I pushed his hand away.

"He said to me, 'Are you a committee member?', I said, 'No, I am invited here to one of the occasions and I am ashamed of you'."

The defendants deny the charges against them, which are alleged to be religiously aggravated.

The trial continues.

By Matthew Cooper