The Church of England is split over US plans to remove "husband and wife" from the marriage service.

Plans by The Episcopal Church (TEC) to change its marriage service to a gay-friendly version which also removes mention of the word "procreation" were criticised in a letter from the Church of England's Secretary General William Nye last October.

But the proposals have received support from elsewhere in the English church, with more than 300 members including Alan Wilson, the bishop of Buckingham, signing an open letter distancing themselves from Mr Nye's statements.

His letter, which emerged earlier this month, threatened to cut ties with the US church, which is a fellow member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, if it introduces the new service as standard, replacing the current wording in its Book of Common Prayer.

The new service removes the phrase "the union of husband and wife” and replaces it with "the union of two people", and replaces the section which talks about part of God's intention for marriage being "for the procreation of children" with the phrase "for the gift of children" to make it more relevant for same-sex couples who may wish to adopt.

Couples can still use the words "husband" and "wife" when making their vows, though the gender-neutral "spouse" is also an option.