ONE of the region's most senior churchmen has revealed an incident of crime at his home.

The Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Michael Turnbull, described yesterday how an elderly volunteer was pushed aside by a young thief at his residence, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

Bishop Turnbull said he had not been there when the robbery took place, but the 89-year-old volunteer was pushed aside by a youth who made off with more than £100 in cash.

Manager Kim Fryer, who was at the castle when the attack took place, on April 7, said: "Two young men came in and one of them had distracted other members of staff with some story that he was looking for his grandfather.

"Then he pushed our volunteer away so he could get to the cash and ran off. We were all very concerned for our volunteer but she wasn't hurt, just very angry."

Details of the incident were disclosed as police revealed that more than one in three clergymen who responded to the survey had been attacked while going about their work.

The bishop, speaking at a seminar on how to deal with violent situations, said: "This is a real problem and has happened at my own home."

The seminar, at Ushaw College, near Durham City, was attended by more than 130 priests and churchwardens.

Among them was the Reverend Raymond Cuthbertson, of St John's Church, Shildon, who was attacked with a knife outside his church two years ago.

He said: "I knew the man and he had mental health problems, but it came as a big shock. It was only a small knife and I eventually managed to get his arm up behind his back."