RELIGIOUS leaders in the North have denied reports that the Church of England is in a financial crisis and considering cutting back on clergy.

A report in yesterday's Times claimed that a cash shortage was threatening the future of one-third of the Anglican clergy.

The report was said to be based on a document by the Resourcing Mission Group, which is chaired by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Reverend Peter Price.

However, he denied the report, saying: "There is no truth in it."

Clergy numbers in the York diocese, which stretches from the Tees to the Humber, have been stable for years and are expected to continue, according to the Bishop of Hull, the Right Reverend Richard Frith, who is the senior suffragan bishop while there is no Archbishop of York.

He said: "The Times report is completely misleading about the Church of England as a whole, and the picture in the Diocese of York makes a nonsense of it.

"The real challenge to the Church isn't about money - it's how to translate our values and priorities into service and leadership for the world about us."