ONE of the region's most senior and controversial clergymen has resigned.

Congregations at yesterday's services in Ripon Cathedral were informed that the Dean of Ripon, the Very Reverend John Meth-uen, had submitted his resignation. It will take effect from December 31.

The announcement follows an agreement he made in April, when a series of charges against him of conduct unbecoming his office and neglect of duty were due to be heard before a church court.

The Dean, who was suspended last September, had denied the charges, which were dropped when he agreed to stand down by the end of the year.

But only two months after the church dropped the charges, the Dean was in the headlines again when he pleaded guilty to drink-driving and was banned from the roads for a year.

He has been on sabbatical leave since April and moved from his Minster House residence, in Ripon, last month.

The Crown will begin consultations for the appointment of a new Dean early in the New Year.

In his statement to the cathedral congregations, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Right Reverend John Packer, said: "I pray that this resignation will bring healing, especially for those who have been hurt deeply by the events of the past few years."

The Bishop said later that he recognised the hurt that had been caused.

He said: "I know something of the pain which some have experienced and my own correspondence and conversations with people have revealed the depth of damage which has been done.

"I am sorry that the length of time which has been taken to achieve a way forward has added to the distress."