Gay activists claim that more than 700 clergy are lining up to "marry" same-sex partners in a development that could increase strains within the Church over homosexuality.

According to insiders, they might include Dr Jeffrey John, the gay but celibate cleric who was forced to step down as Bishop of Reading in 2003 following a conservative backlash. Dr John is now Dean of St Albans.

Many conservatives in the worldwide Anglican Church will portray the development as undermining the Church's hard-line stance on the issue. But the bishops sought to dampen controversy over the partnerships yesterday by insisting that it will not change Church policy. They argued that the law would not introduce "gay marriage" because, although it gives partners rights in areas such as pensions, it does not presuppose sexual relations.

They admitted that the Act was ambiguous and would be widely perceived as the equivalent of marriage, but they pointed out that Government ministers had explicitly denied that this was their intention.

The bishops' statement said that clergy who wished to register their partnerships should first reassure their bishops that they will respect Church policy.

It said: "The House of Bishops does not regard entering into a civil partnership as intrinsically incompatible with holy orders provided the person concerned is willing to give assurances to his or her bishop that the relationship is consistent with the standards for clergy set out in Issues in Human Sexuality."

The 1991 document permitted gay relationships between lay people, but said that clergy were public figures who had to adopt different standards of sexual behaviour.

The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Rev Graham James, said that priests who failed to live up to these standards, or who refused to answer reasonable questions about their private live, could face discipline.

He said that action could be taken under the Clergy Discipline Measure to be introduced this year, though he admitted that it had not been tested in court. The bishop, who headed the working party that drew up the statement, stressed they were not planning an "inquisition".

Some bishops are furious that the Government has put them in such a difficult position by framing the legislation in an ambiguous way.

While they support the idea that lifelong friends should have some protection, they feel that the civil partnership legislation could erode the unique position of marriage.

The Rev Richard Kirker, general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, accused the Church of showing "contempt" for gay partnerships. He predicted that many gay clergy would lie to their bishops about their private lives or ignore them.

END