Entertainment giant Sony this afternoon apologised to Manchester Cathedral for using its interior in a violent computer game and said there had been no intention to cause offence.

But Sony gave no indication that they would accede to the cathedral’s demand that it withdraw the game or make a financial donation to the cathedral’s work on educating young people against gun crime.

In what has been described by Manchester Dean Rogers Govender as a “virtual desecration”, images of a gory gun battle between men and aliens in the cathedral nave feature prominently in the flagship PlayStation 3 computer game Resistance: Fall of Man.

Prime Minister Tony Blair is among those who have intervened since the row was disclosed by The Times a week ago. Mr Blair told Parliament earlier this week there was a need for large organisations such as Sony to have both “some sense of responsibility and some sensitivity to the feelings of communities”. He said there was a need for recognition that “there is a wider social responsibility” that goes beyond simply the “responsibility for profit” whatever the cost.

In a letter to the Dean, Sony’s European president Dr David Reeves pleads with him to understand that the game is “a work of science fiction”.

He explains that it is fantasy entertainment set against a backdrop of an alternative reality of 1950’s Britain. History has been rewritten and the Second World War has not happened but a race of alien creatures has attacked the earth and the human race is engaged in a struggle to defend itself from this alien invader.

He admits: “Early in the time line of the story, Manchester Cathedral is utilised as a field hospital to tend to the human casualties of the war. When the story line reaches chapter 8, the Cathedral is empty and abandoned, no longer used as a place of worship and the sequences that take place inside are to defend the building from the aliens.”

Dr Reeves continues: “We do not accept that there is any connection between contemporary issues of 21st century Manchester and a work of science fiction in which a fictitious 1950’s Britain is under attack by aliens. We believe a comprehensive viewing of the work will make its content and context clear.”

Offering to demonstrate the game to the cathedral clergy, he continues: “It was not our intention to cause offence by using a representation of Manchester Cathedral in chapter 8 of the work. If we have done so we sincerely apologise.”

Noting that the cathedral is consulting lawyers, he reasserts Sony’s belief that “all the necessary permissions” were obtained before the cathedral was used.

No-one at the cathedral was asked permission by Sony for the use of its image in the game, however.

Speaking on behalf of all the cathedral clergy, Dean Govender said: “We acknowledge the admission by Sony that the building in the game is Manchester Cathedral. We thank Sony for the apology they have made. However, we do not move from the position that we are against violence and especially the gun violence seen in this portrayal of the Cathedral.

“We are pleased that Sony wish to come and meet with us in Manchester as today we offered them such an invitation. In the meeting with Sony we will discuss our outstanding demands, how this game came to be produced and where the images of the Cathedral came from.”