DISGRACED Minehead vicar the Rev Simon Lloyd has been banned from office for four years after admitting an affair with a married woman.

The Free Press exclusively revealed in March that Mr Lloyd, a married father-of-one, had been suspended following allegations that he had had an improper relationship with a woman from a neighbouring parish.

He will remain suspended until September 1 and will then be barred from serving as either a priest or deacon until 2014.

The news was broken to parishioners at a special meeting in Minehead on Saturday by the Archdeacon of Taunton, the Venerable John Reed.

He also attended the Sunday service at St Andrew's Church in the town and read a prepared statement on the matter to the congregation.

The statement said Mr Lloyd's ongoing suspension had left parishioners facing "much apprehension and uncertainty".

It said Mr Lloyd had admitted his part in an affair with a local woman - believed to be a mother-of-two.

Sources said the affair had started over a year ago.

However, the church has not released any further details about the affair and has not named the woman involved.

Under church rules and regulations, an investigation into the allegation was held behind closed doors and, once proved, the punishment had to be agreed by both the Bishop of Bath and Wells the Right Rev Peter Price and Mr Lloyd.

The Diocese statement said: "Mr Lloyd has served the church and town of Minehead with great commitment and much love.

"Many people will be distressed by the cessation of his ministry . . . but people expect the highest standards from our clergy, consistent with their faith and profession."

In Mr Lloyd's absence, pastoral care has been undertaken by the Rev Stephen Stuckes, the vicar of neighbouring St Michael's Church in Alcombe.

Prebendary John Andrews, communications officers for the Bath and Wells Diocese, said Mr Stuckes would continue to oversee parish duties at St Andrew's until a new vicar was appointed in due course.

He said Mr Lloyd, his wife Susie and the couple's young daughter, would receive all the "pastoral support necessary".

Mr Lloyd had been in charge of the Minehead parish for six years.

A former nurse, he spent ten years working with critically ill children at Birmingham's city hospital, where he met his wife, also a nurse.

He went to school in Bath before studying psychology in Portsmouth and theology in Oxford, going on to work in Derbyshire, Nottingham and the West Midlands.

His last parish before coming to Minehead, Solihull in the West Midlands, had no permanent church building and the congregation met in a school hall for Sunday services.

In complete contrast to his rural posting, Mr Lloyd was also chaplain to Solihull's town centre and the Touchwood Shopping Centre.

During his ten years' service in the town, he helped set up the Solihull Interfaith Dialogue group, working closely with the local Muslim imam.

He was also co-chairman of Churches Together in Central Solihull and for six years served on the Birmingham Diocesan Synod.