Society needs to show greater tolerance towards other cultures, Prince Charles has said.

In a keynote speech to launch a cross-faith initiative, the Prince of Wales called for increased understanding between faiths and communities.

Launching the "Respect" campaign, Prince Charles entered the debate sparked by the electoral success of Jean-Marie Le Pen's national front party in the French presidential elections.

Joined by leading members of 23 religious groups the Prince made a guarded reference to the French general election, September 11 and the rise of the BNP.

"Over the past year, we have seen, internationally, nationally and locally, all too many examples of intolerance to others," he said. "Tolerance is an easy word to pronounce, but it seems to be very difficult to enact in our lives."

His comments were interpreted as a call for the groups involved in the Middle East to end the latest round of violence. He said forgiveness was "the only means of breaking the cycle of cause and effect of hatred, vengeance and conflict and of reconciling the opposites in our relations with each other".

With the problems of crimes caused by social exclusion again in the headlines, there was also a call for greater cohesion in communities.

"I think that we need to remember what has sometimes been lost from our communities and to repair it. Good neighbourliness is, perhaps, one of the things most in need of repair," he said.

"It is about the young Muslim mowing the lawn for the elderly Hindu lady down the street. Or the choir from the Catholic church or Anglican parish church singing to entertain the Jewish old people's club. It is these small things that, above all, will make our communities better places in which to live."