CHURCH Commissioners have denied reports that the historic home of the Bishop of Durham could be sold.

The reports suggested that the Church of England could be forced to sell some of its historic houses including Hartlebury Castle, home of the Bishop of Worscester, Rose Castle, which is situated on the Scottish border and Auckland Castle.

But a spokesman for the commission, which manages the assets of the Church of England, said the reports were 'slightly exaggerated.'

He said: "There is a review going on at the moment looking at how to get the best use out of the buildings. It hasn't properly got underway yet. These reports are rather premature. This is common sense looking at good stewardship.''

He said that the church has repeatedly explored ways of getting more out of their portfolio of 113 buildings and said that since the Second World War about half of the historic bishops' houses had been sold or turned to other uses.

He also said that where appropriate commissioners had undertaken a steady process of letting out parts of the remaining buildings for office use without disturbing their official purpose. He said that Auckland Castle was a good example of this by housing conference facilities and hosting weddings.

The Rev Stephen Conway, the Bishop of Durham's senior chaplain, said: "As far as I know nobody has been asked to do any valuation of the castle with a view to selling it. This simply hasn't happened and speculation about it is just that - pure speculation.

"In a sense the reports have failed to take into account that this is a working castle and we have worked very hard to create a place where there is commercial activity which makes a substantial contribution to the upkeep of the castle.''

This is not the first time there has been speculation surrounding the sale of the castle. In 1994 a report revealed Church Commissioners were considering action to help recover from disastrous property speculation in the 1980s.

The possibility was also explored again when the living arrangements of all Church of England bishops were put under scrutiny.