A VICAR who became a best-selling author is giving up his parish after suffering heart problems.

The Reverend Graham Taylor, vicar at St Mary's Church, in Cloughton, near Scarborough, has denied that he is retiring to boost his bank balance as an author.

He said he had taken the decision to look after his health and spend more time with his family.

Mr Taylor penned the Gothic children's tale, Shadowmancer, which was published on June 21 this year, the same day as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The book was an overnight success, selling 250,000 copies worldwide.

But Mr Taylor collapsed in late June with supra ventricular tachycardia (svt), the same heart problem that recently affected Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He recovered but, despite being told to take six weeks off work, his busy parish duties only allowed him a few days, including one Sunday, off.

Mr Taylor said: "When I had the incident in June, I wanted to take it easy but, because I could not get any cover for my parish, I had to carry on working even though I was sick.

"But I am not retiring completely because I am still going to continue as a locum and give other vicars the opportunity to have a day off."

His next book, Wormwood, is almost complete and should be launched in June next year.

Mr Taylor said: "Cynical people are going to say that I am leaving to make more money as a writer, but that is not the reason. I haven't actually received any of my royalties yet because they take a long time to come through.

"The reason I have taken this decision is for my health and my family and because I want to look after them. "