Australian police have criticised a Sydney church for flouting the city's Covid-19 lockdown by holding a service for 60 people in a pandemic hotspot, AFP reports.

Australian media quoted a Facebook-streamed sermon on Sunday from the church in the western Sydney region's Blacktown as saying: “In the name of Jesus we refuse every lockdown in our cities. We declare the lockdowns are over in the name of Jesus.”

The Sydney church did not immediately respond to a request to comment. The church is part of Christ Embassy, an international religious group headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, which has a record of spreading Covid-19 conspiracy theories.

Sydney is currently under stay-at-home orders, as Australia's largest city struggles to contain a Delta variant outbreak that now tops 800 new cases a day.