A parish has been without a vicar for eight months.

Since Canon Ian Fox left in April, the parish of All Saints' Church, in Northallerton, with St James's, in Romanby, and St Lawrence's, in Kirby Sigston, has not had a vicar.

At full-strength, the area was covered by a vicar, two curates and four retired priests, but now there is only one curate and three retired priests covering the services and duties at what is the busiest time of the year.

Curate, the Reverend Liz Kitching said: "We have gone from eight people to four in just eight months.

"The Bishop of Whitby is looking for a vicar for us, but it is not that easy.

"You have got to look within the diocese first and it is a big area. If there is no one suitable then we will have to import somebody from another diocese. That can take up to a year.

"I have been doing the job for two and a half years and I have learnt so many things that other curates will never get a go at. It has been good for me in that sense."

The Bishop of Whitby, the Right Reverend Robert Ladds, said he was working with the Dean and Chapter at Durham to resolve the situation.