The Church of England will now look to recruit unpaid clergy with the number of paid priests being cut by 10 to 20 per cent, one source told The Sunday Times.

These new recruits would join the 2,870 unpaid clergy, 7,370 retired clergy who continue to officiate and 7,830 lay readers already part of the establishment.

The publication also stated that the document questioned 'the sustainability of many local churches'.

Victims of an "abusive" vicar unmasked by The Telegraph fear a church cover-up, as it emerges officials will have a month to scour the investigation into his conduct before its publication.

In June 2019 The Telegraph revealed that Rev Jonathan Fletcher, one of the Church of England's leading evangelical figures, was banned from preaching after "spiritually abusing" vulnerable adults.

Among those discussed have been a cut in the number of bishops from more than 100 to as few as ten, and a redrawing of parish boundaries to reduce their number from 12,500 to 9,000.

Highly-placed sources suggest it lost £150million in donations alone during the months when collection plates went unused and fees for special services dried up. Pictured: The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Experts in the body will bring suspects for trial before a new tribunal system, which is likely to be supervised by judges from the secular legal system.

This 'central office' would be the first organisation set up to police clergy in England in nearly 1,000 years.

It mirrors the Vatican organisation -- the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- charged by Pope Francis with investigating allegations of child sex abuse against Roman Catholic priests.