A SENIOR clergyman accused of misconduct has agreed to resign after the charges against him were dropped.

The Dean of Ripon, the Very Rev John Methuen, was due to face 21 charges of conduct unbecoming the office and work of a clerk in holy orders and one offence of serious, persistent or continuous neglect of duty.

The allegations were due to be aired at a church court sitting at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.

However, after eight hours of behind-the-scenes discussions, the charges against the 57-year-old were withdrawn.

The Church's barrister, Geoffrey Tattersall, told the court that a trial would serve "no useful purpose."

Under the agreement, Mr Methuen will leave Ripon Cathedral by the end of the year and will go on sabbatical leave in the meantime.

In a statement read out in court, Mr Methuen, who joined the cathedral in 1995, said: "I believe that I now need a period of reflection on my future life and ministry, and I have accepted the bishop's offer of sabbatical leave.

"My wife and I have many friends in Ripon where there has been much creative work over the past ten years and where we received a great deal of support during difficult times.

"I wish to give my best wishes and prayers for everyone in the cathedral, the city and the diocese."

In a second statement, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Rev John Packer, said: "I am grateful to John Methuen for the lively and vigorous ministry he has pursued at the cathedral over the last ten years.

"My prayers are with him for his future life and ministry."

In a message to the cathedral congregation and the diocese of Ripon and Leeds, the bishop admitted that the Church had suffered because of the incident.

"I would ask all those concerned to refrain from recriminations and set the past behind them and hold in their prayers the dean, his wife and family and all those who have been damaged by these events," he said.

"I pray that good relations will be restored in the cathedral community and across the city and look forward to us all working together to promote the gospel."

Complaints about the dean's management style and alleged high-handed and bullying behaviour were made to the bishop in 2001.

An inquiry was launched after the resignations of chapter clerk Howard Crawshaw, bursar Nigel Clay and Kerry Beaumont, organist and master of the choristers.

Mr Methuen, who has always denied the allegations, was suspended on full pay by the bishop in September.

Recently, friends and well-wishers raised £10,000 in just eight days to help the dean meet his legal costs arising from the trial.