FIRST Minister Alex Salmond is to press for a 300-year-old law which forbids Catholics from ascending the throne to be scrapped.

Mr Salmond will lobby Gordon Brown to get rid of the 1701 Act of Settlement when he becomes Prime Minister.

The Act bars Catholics, or anyone married to one, from becoming King or Queen.

Church leaders say Government attempts to crack down on bigotry can't be taken seriously while the law still exists.

The SNP leader, who will meet with Mr Brown after he moves into Downing Street at the end of this month, promised to discuss the matter and said he was hopeful that progress could be made.

Mr Brown is currently looking at making changes to the UK constitution.

Mr Salmond said: "If Gordon Brown is considering drawing up a bill of rights, then the Act of Settlement should be removed as part of that.

"If that doesn't happen it should still be repealed - it is a blot on our culture."

During his premiership, Tony Blair accepted the law was unfair, but said it would be too "complex" and "time-consuming" to tackle.

However, Mr Salmond said he believed Mr Brown would be more "amenable".

The Catholic Church has long believed that the Act is discriminatory.

Cardinal Keith O' Brien, leader of Scotland's catholics, insisted it would be "ignorant" to try and tackle sectarianism without repealing the law.

The Orange Lodge of Scotland agreed the law was discriminatory but said it should be retained for "libertarian" reasons.