A senior Church of England figure is calling for bishops to ditch their mitres because they symbolise a "culture of deference".

Revd Ian Paul, a member of the Archbishops' Council, said the traditional hats were part of a "world of the past" and meant the bishops appeared elevated above the rest of the church.

"The mitre has become a sign that 'this person is a bishop'. It's not a very good one because it looks daft and it doesn't signify anything in the Church of England.

"It makes them distant and it makes them look silly," he told the Telegraph, adding that the hats were "Roman Catholicism by the back door".