London, July 29 - Representatives of Britain's largest Christian denomination have met members of a tribe from Orissa to hear demands to withdraw investments from a British company that plans to mine a mountain that the tribe claims as sacred land.

The tribal protesters and international campaigners have added feisty British actress Joanna Lumley to their list of celebrity supporters.

The meeting between representatives of the Church of England's ethical investment group and two members of the Dongria Kondh tribe took place in London Tuesday following widespread protests at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders of Vedanta Resources, one of Britain's largest mining companies.

The Dongria Kondh say Vedanta's plans to mine the bauxite-rich Nyamgiri mountain are sacrilegious as it is the abode of their deity Nyam Raja, but Vedanta points out the project has been cleared by the Supreme Court and claims it will benefit locals.

The meeting between church representatives, tribal campaigners Sitaram Kulisaki and Bratindi Jena and a member of the aid agency ActionAid lasted for over an hour, said Meredith Alexander, head of Trade and Corporates at ActionAid.

'The Church of England representatives were very interested to hear from the Dongria Kondh,' she told IANS.

A spokesman for the Church of England, which has 2.5 million pounds of investment in Vedanta, said they now planned to meet the management of the mining company, which is owned by Indian-born billionaire Anil Aggarwal.

'We have a policy of engaging with companies with whom we invest. If you simply disinvest you lose any opportunity to engage. Our investment bodies have the duty to ensure good financial returns,' church spokesman Steve Jenkins told IANS.