A senior Church of England clergyman has resigned and is considering becoming a Roman Catholic.

Canon John Caldicott, the rural dean of Hove, says he is unhappy about the way the Anglican church is handling the issue of women priests.

Canon Caldicott, 53, said: "I have no objection to women priests - it is simply the way in which the Church is dealing with it.

"I would have hoped the Church of England might have decided the issue in a truly Christian manner of open debate."

Canon Caldicott said he had thought seriously about the issue since it was first put forward in 1992.

At the time he had only been at All Saints Church in The Drive, Hove, for a year.

He said: "I decided then that I had a job to do here and that I would see that through before making a decision on the future.

"I have been here nine years and what I set out to achieve has now largely been done.

"I thought that now would be an appropriate moment to reflect on the direction the Church of England is taking and on my own beliefs.

"I have set myself a limit of three months to decide on whether I want to continue in the same direction.

"If the answer is no, I shall then have to decide whether I want to remain an Anglican priest or become a Roman Catholic."

Canon Caldicott was in the news shortly before he was installed as the vicar of Hove in 1991.

He was lucky to survive a car crash in France just a few days before the ceremony was due to take place.

Then Father John Arrowsmith fell dead at his feet during the service at All Saints.

The trauma of both incidents left him with health problems which have punctuated his ministry in Hove.

He said: "I have now come to terms with what happened and am looking to the future."