FOR Sale signs are unlikely to be going up at the Bishop of Durham's home, Auckland Castle, despite weekend reports of crackdown on episcopal expenses.

The Right Reverend Michael Turnbull is confident his 800-year-old palace and six- acre estate at Bishop Auckland will escape a sell-off of the most lavish Church of England homes being considered in an independent review.

The new survey of the costs of the Church's 114 diocesan and suffragan bishops was set up by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Under particular scrutiny are the housing expenses of the bishops, who collectively spend £8m a year on such items as hospitality and staff.

Professor Anthony Mellows, an emeritus professor of law at King's College, London, chairs a committee which has sent questionnaires to the bishops asking for a breakdown of their working costs.

But Bishop Michael, who is one of 30 people working at Auckland Castle, said last night that selling his home was only "a very remote possibility".

He said: "We live in a small part of the castle which houses the diocesan office.

"It would be very difficult to sell. It is a Grade One listed building with a medieval chapel attached to it, and you could not do anything drastic with the building.

"It is one of the treasures of County Durham and therefore the people of County Durham need to be consulted about it.

"There is a long way to go before any decision is made."