An Anglican priest who once served in Tony Blair's constituency was today jailed for 18 months after he groped a 10-year-old boy in his vicarage.

The Rev George Glover, known to parishioners as Father Eddie, abused his trusted position and broke Church rules by being alone with the child, a judge told him today.

The 44-year-old, who at a four-day hearing at Newcastle Crown Court in August denied the charge, was placed indefinitely on the Sex Offenders' Register and ordered to undergo two-and-a-half years close supervision upon his release.

He had broken regulations about dealing with young people by being alone with the child at his St Chad's Vicarage in Bensham, Gateshead, despite a recent warning from the Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Michael Turnbull.

The court heard Glover abused the child in April last year while his wife was out.

Glover left the Prime Minister's parish in Trimdon, County Durham in 1997 after a member of the congregation claimed he had sexual relations with her.

Glover was cleared at an Ecclesiastical Court and resumed his career in Gateshead.

Michael Hodson, defending, said the priest maintained his denial and said his wife was standing by him.

Twice-married Glover's first wife wrote a letter of support to the court and references were provided by parishioners who praised his pastoral care.

The judge told Glover a jail sentence was inevitable.

He told him: "You were parish priest, having the care of souls and having the care particularly of young people within your parish and this offence is a clear breach of trust that was placed in you by your parishioners and indeed, by the church authorities.

"You let yourself be placed in a situation where you were alone with this boy and that despite having been given a very recent, careful warning by the Bishop."

The judge said the offence was not the most serious kind of indecent assault but it still had had a "serious impact" on his victim.

After sentence, the Bishop of Durham, the Right Rev Michael Turnbull issued a statement saying Glover's future in the Church will be determined by Ecclesiastical Law but this will "take time."

It added: "The Church expects the highest standards from all members of the clergy and deeply regrets that one of its clergy has failed to meet those standards. "The Bishop of Durham is saddened that one of his clergy is in such a position."