The archbishop would preside over a final court of appeal, allowing him to exercise the "judgment of Solomon" over warring factions in the 70-million strong Church.

This would be resisted by liberals keen to preserve the autonomy of their provinces, the 38 individual churches of the Anglican communion.

But it could help appease conservatives furious that liberals defied the will of the majority by endorsing Anglicanism's first openly homosexual bishop in America.

The proposals are still under consideration by the Lambeth Commission, the body appointed by Dr Williams to try to avert schism following the consecration of Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire in November.

But senior churchmen are confident that they will form a central part of the commission's final report in October.

The initiative emerged as the chairman of the commission, the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Robin Eames, made a plea for restraint.

In a letter issued yesterday, Dr Eames said: "I do not underestimate the complexities of our tasks nor the difficulties." Conservative African archbishops last month demanded urgent action against the liberal leadership of the American Episcopal Church, which backed Bishop Robinson.

They want the Americans disciplined for ignoring the decisions of the 1998 Lambeth Conference and the primates to uphold the Church's ban on the ordination of active homosexuals and gay "marriages".

Meanwhile, the liberal Canadian church is preparing to vote next month on a motion which would pave the way for same-sex blessings in a further breach of policy. In his letter, Dr Eames said that if any groups "initiated definitive breaks from their parent Church" before the publication of the final report, the commission would "regard such decisions as a serious development".

Under the blueprint, drawn up by Prof Norman Doe, a commission member and the director of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff University, provinces are prevented from acting unilaterally against the greater good of the communion as a whole.

If disputes arise, a final appeal could be made to the Archbishop of Canterbury, possibly assisted by a "bench" of senior churchmen and theologians.

Ultimately, a province defying the archbishop's judgment could be expelled.

Plans to transform the Church from a communion into a confederation of loosely connected churches is also to be considered by the commission if unity is impossible.

Conservatives and liberals would remain linked to the Archbishop of Canterbury, but would not recognise each other's priests or bishops.

END