Archbishop of York says he acted as soon as legally possible in sexual abuse case

Church of England crisis deepens as second archbishop faces calls to resign over response to abuse

The archbishop of York has said he acted as soon as legally possible against a priest repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct and abuse after facing calls to resign over his handling of the case.

Stephen Cottrell is due to take over temporary leadership of the church in three weeks when the resignation of the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, over his failures to deal properly with abuse takes effect.