Retail giant Amazon has removed an "infant circumcision training kit" from its UK website following concerns that it could encourage DIY surgery.

Offered for sale by ESP, the item cost between £365 and £456, with options for a dark or light skinned dummy.

The controversial kit offered a model of a male child's genitals on which circumcision could be attempted with a selection of scalpels.

Male circumcision is the practice of removing part of the foreskin from the penis and is carried out for either religious or medical purposes, often at a young age.

Amazon pulled the product after the National Secular Society (NSS) wrote to UK manager Douglas Gurr suggesting it was against the company's supply chain standards policy.

Dr Antony Lempert, chairman of the NSS's secular medical forum, wrote: "We fear that the sale of this product may encourage unqualified practitioners to carry out unnecessary surgery on infants in non-clinical conditions, resulting in serious harm."

Debate has long raged around whether circumcision should be banned for anything other than medically necessary reasons.

The procedure is commonly carried out in faiths such as Judaism, in which it is believed to represent a covenant with God.

Dr Lempert added in his letter: "Non-therapeutic circumcision is unethical and unnecessary and is putting infant boys at risk of death and serious injury.

"This practice could be encouraged by the morally negligent sale of infant circumcision training kits to the public."

Even though the product remains available in the United States, it is understood that it cannot be shipped to the UK.