A VICAR who presided over a Bocking congregation for 11 years has pleaded guilty to possessing more than 1,000 indecent images of children.

Appearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday, Trevor Diaper, 58, admitted six charges of making indecent images of children, including photos and moving photos, and a further charge of possessing 1,145 indecent images of children.

The images, found on his computer, ranged from the least serious level one images to level four images, which are rated as the second most serious.

The prosecution has decided not to proceed with a further seven counts of indecent assault against a child, which Diaper, former vicar at St Peter's Church in St Peter's Road, had denied.

Diocese spokesperson Ralph Meloy said: "The diocese of Chelmsford and the Church of England are shocked and saddened that a clergyman has fallen so far short of the standards expected.

"We give the highest priority to the care and protection of all children and vulnerable people. We have policies, procedures and training schemes that uphold high standards of conduct."

Diaper had been vicar at St Peter's since 1997 and was also chaplain at Braintree ambulance station.

He has been suspended since he was arrested on suspicion of historic child abuse on June 26 last year.

The Bishop of Chelmsford is now due to ban him from holding office for life.

Mr Meloy added: "We continue to pray for and support the Diaper family, churchwardens, church council, parish and community."

At an earlier court appearance, Diaper had pleaded not guilty to seven charges of the indecent assault of a girl which allegedly took place between 1999 and 2003. Those charges will be disposed of at a hearing next month after the crown decided not to proceed.

Prosecuting, Andrew Jackson said Diaper had admitted sexual assault in police interview but later denied the charges, saying his admissions had been untrue.

He said in the light of the guilty pleas on the indecent images charges, the alleged assault victim did not wish to go through the ordeal of pursuing the charges in a court trial.

He added: "We are concerned about the effect on her of giving evidence." Judge Christopher Ball QC said pursuing historical abuse charges could be "intensely damaging" and do "more harm than good" for some alleged victims.

Re-bailing Diaper until October 9 for pre-sentence reports, Judge Ball warned: "The court's sentencing powers in a case such as this are quite wide."