A SHORTAGE of priests is leaving some parishes waiting up to two years for a vicar to take over after the departure of the previous incumbent.

Concern over the issue has prompted Church leaders to step up recruitment efforts, but they admit it is likely to be another eight years before the number of those joining the ministry matches the number of those retiring.

They say they are baffled by the difficulty in persuading priests to work in the region, despite the fact they are largely paid the same throughout the country and the cost of living is lower.

Martin Sheppard, spokesman for the Church of England's York diocese, said: "It is a problem that the northern dioceses have more difficulty in filling posts than in the South.

"The bulk of the population lives in the South, but an awful lot of them do not want to go north."

St Cuthbert's in Ormesby, Middlesbrough, was without a parish priest from November 1999, until the arrival of a new incumbent last Thursday. Mr Sheppard said such a gap was not unusual.

He said: "The difficulty in recruiting clergy is a challenge we have to meet and we have to redouble our efforts to get around this problem."

The Bishop of Whitby, the Right Reverend Robert Ladds, said: "There has been a tendency for priests to prefer to work in the South-East - there is a perception that things are more vibrant and go-ahead there."

He said recent years had seen a gradual increase in the number of people coming forward to be ordained.

But a large number of priests will come to retirement age in the next five to ten years, meaning it is expected to be 2009 before those coming in balances out those leaving.

The Bishop said the diocese was taking on about 13 new clergy a year, and was committed to providing posts for all those newly ordained.

He said the practice of merging parishes in the face of a shortage of priests had gone about as far as it could, with the church now looking at other solutions to the problem. "I'm quite positive and I believe the future is hugely exciting," he said.