Police in Birmingham have charged a Catholic woman with four counts of violating an abortion clinic “buffer zone” after she admitted that she might have been praying silently while standing outside.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested, searched and held in custody after she told officers that she might have said some silent prayers close to the British Pregnancy Advisory Services Robert Clinic in Kings Norton.

She carried no rosary beads or signs but was photographed outside the premises by an onlooker and reported to the police.