CHURCHES are being urged to check their records following evidence that disgraced bishop Peter Ball posed as his twin brother.

The Church of England has announced it is investigating evidence the now 84-year-old took services in the place of his identical twin in the 1990s.

Ball was jailed last year after pleading guilty to abusing 18 teenagers and young men while he was the Bishop of Lewes in the 1970s and 1980s.

He had previously been investigated in 1993 but was only given a police caution for gross indecency.

It has now emerged he may have taken services in place of his brother, who is the former Bishop of Truro in Cornwall.

The current Bishop of Truro, the Right Reverend Tim Thornton, told the BBC that churches should check their records.

He said: "We have one or two bits of evidence now where it does appear as if Bishop Peter went and did things which Bishop Michael should have been doing.

"It might be that Bishop Peter thought it was clear that he was being Bishop Peter, and on some occasions might have made it very clear at the beginning that he was there in place of his brother, but it might not have been evident to everybody."

He added that it would have been "a limited number of services in a limited number of churches".

It is not known if the congregation would have been aware that Peter Ball was officiating rather than his brother.

An independent review, led by Dame Moira Gibb, is currently investigating how much senior figures in the Church of England knew about Ball's activities.

The Diocese of Truro is cooperating with the review.

Bishop Tim added: "We hope the review will be able to bring some clarity regarding the status of Peter Ball's ministry within the Diocese of Truro."

A spokesman for the Diocese of Truro said: "We can confirm that Peter Ball was granted Permission to Officiate within the Diocese of Truro in 1995 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey.

"There was an initial permission granted for a period of six months from March 1, 1995, and then this was then extended by three years from September 1, 1995."

Ball was sentenced for two individual counts of indecent assaults, and one count of misconduct in a public office which encompassed acts of “debasement” perpetrated on sixteen young men who had come to his home seeking spiritual enlightenment.

He was jailed for 32 months in October last year.