A collection of church paintings will still be sold by the Church of England despite a dramatic change in its fortunes.

Poor performances of the church's main investment fund were blamed for the Church Commissioners' decision to sell 13 portraits by Spanish artist Francisco de Zurbaran, which hang in the Bishop of Durham's residence.

Senior commissioners have said that the decision made in 2001 still stands, despite the fund performing well in tough stockmarket conditions.

The Northern Echo has campaigned since then to keep the artworks in the region when they leave Auckland Castle, in Bishop Auckland.

Andreas Whittam Smith, the first church estates commissioner, said the fund, which supports poor parishes and pays priests' pensions, had achieved an average return of ten per cent for the past decade despite the worst stockmarket collapse in years.

But a spokesman for the commissioners, which manages the fund, said the paintings were still being valued for sale and that the commissioners still intended to be sympathetic to the view that the paintings should remain in the North-East after 250 years at Bishop Auckland.

Adrian Jenkins, director at Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, said the museum continued to monitor the situation and hoped to purchase the collection.

He said: "Regardless of the church's situation we know the paintings are to be sold, we will do what we can to meet a reasonable value to purchase the collection to keep it in the region."