A COUNTY curate who appeared on a hit BBC show will not accept certain religious ceremonies conducted by women priests.

Father Matthew Cashmore will not receive the Holy Communion consecrated by a woman in the future, according to a letter sent from the West Hereford Team Ministry to its congregations and parishes.

The letter states that Father Cashmore, who is from the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England, reached this position after 'much prayer and thought' and consultation with Bishop Richard Frith, The Revd Ruth Hulse and The Revd Rob North, team rector at West Hereford Team Ministry.

A meeting of all Parochial Church Council members and members of the congregations and parishioners of the West Hereford Team took place on May 17 with Revd Hulse, Father Cashmore and Revd North to discuss the situation.

Women were ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England in 1994. According to the letter, provision for men and women who hold the view that Holy Communion should not be consecrated by a woman has been agreed by the General Synod since women were first ordained.

Father Matthew appeared on BBC2's A Vicar's Life earlier this year.

A Hereford Diocese spokeswoman said: “Women have been ordained in the Church of England since 1994 and since then a national policy has set out provision for clergy and church members who do not accept the sacramental ministry of women.

“The Church of England is committed to enabling people to work and worship together despite their theological differences and to the mutual flourishing of the whole church.”