MYSTERY continues to surround the case of a Roman Catholic parish priest a year after he was suspended from his church.

Supporters of Father Michael Higginbottom last night branded the length of the suspension disgraceful and called on church authorities to return the priest to their parish.

Fr Higginbottom was withdrawn from St Augustine's Church, in Darlington, last December, after it was claimed "information" was received against him.

Church officials in the Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle launched an inquiry, which at one stage involved police, but officials have consistently refused to give details of the "highly unusual and intricate" case.

Even Fr Higginbottom, who has been at St Augustine's since 1998, is still unaware of the full details of the inquiry.

The complaint is believed to date from when Fr Higginbottom taught at a monastic training institute, Upholland College, near Wigan, in the 1970s and 1980s.

Lancashire Police told The Northern Echo they were not investigating Fr Higginbottom, and he had never been arrested.

Parishioners of St Augustine's have pledged their full support to Fr Higginbottom, for whom Father Patrick McKenna, from Stockton, has been deputising.

Although rumours abound in the parish that the inquiry has ended, church authorities would not be drawn further.

Father Dennis Tindall, the diocese child protection officer who is leading the investigation, refused to comment on whether a conclusion had been reached.

"All I can say is that when we release something, it will be in a joint prepared statement from ourselves and Fr Michael," he said.

A spokeswoman for the diocese's child protection office in Newcastle said speculation that he would return before Christmas was unfounded.

The Northern Echo contacted Fr Higginbottom, who is staying at a County Durham monastic retreat, but he said he could not comment on his suspension.

But parishioners hit out at the wall of silence and the length of the investigation.

In March, they were addressed by the bishop, the Right Reverend Kevin Dunn, and Fr Tindall at a parish meeting, which churchgoers said "raised more questions than it answered".

In June, the church's listening group wrote to Bishop Dunn demanding answers, and to express their concern at the length of time Fr Higginbottom had been away from the parish.

Parishioner Derek Hutchinson said yesterday: "No one can pin down just what the allegations are or if there is any substance to them.

"But if it comes out that there isn't, then they have put Michael through 12 months of hell and deprived not only our parish of their priest, but also the parish in Stockton where Fr Pat is from."

Another parishioner, who asked not to be named, said: "Even when you ask a yes or no question, you don't get an answer.

"But saying that, all we are really bothered about is Fr Michael. He is loved and adored here and we want him back."