An Anglican church leader has accused the Yorkshire Building Society of bullying after it announced that it was closing his account within 14 days when he protested against it allegedly pushing transgender “ideology”.

The Rev Richard Fothergill, who has been with the building society for 17 years, wrote to them online in June, after he was invited to give general feedback.

He insists his message was a polite rebuttal of transgender ideology, which he claims the institution has been actively promoting during Pride month. He received a letter four days later saying that his internet savings account would be closed.

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) told him in the note, seen by The Times, that it had a “zero tolerance approach to discrimination” and that their relationship had “irrevocably broken down”.