IT'S bound to get some traditionalists hot under the dog-collar - but cash dispensers could start appearing in country churches.

Hole-in-the-wall machines are one of the options being put forward to the Church of England as a way of improving the lot of rural dwellers.

Some senior officials believe the move would fill the gap left by the closure of village banks and post offices and reinforce the role of churches as centres of local communities.

But the very idea has left some churchmen incredulous. "I would think it very unlikely that anything like this would even get planning permission," said a spokesman for the Ripon diocese, which has a huge rural area.

"Getting permission to even move pews is difficult, so making large holes in ancient walls would be out of the question."

Traditionalists also raise the religious objection, pointing out that Christ threw the money-changers out of the Temple.

"It's an appalling idea, madness. The interiors of churches are sacred places," said Lord St John of Fawsley, who heads the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust.

The idea has been floated in a confidential document for the Churches Heritage Forum and the Church of England insists there is no "ATM project" as such.

But the Bishop of Durham's advisor on rural issues, the Reverend John Inkpin from Stanhope, said: "I can't imagine that there would ever be a cash machine in a sanctuary or anywhere like that."

"But there will be a small number of communities where the church or the church hall is the only building which can meet the needs of a sustainable community.