Church of England priests are increasingly dealing with mental health crises among their parishioners, a report has found, as a lack of NHS services leaves people with nowhere else to turn.

A survey by charity the Church Urban Fund found that the proportion of senior clergy who thought mental health was a serious issue in their local area rose from 40 per cent in 2011 to 60 per cent last year.

Since the survey began the problem has overtaken other issues including debt, family breakdown and drugs and alcohol to become the second-biggest worry, behind loneliness, among the 1,000 clergy surveyed for the Church of England report.

The Reverend Laura Leatherbarrrow, whose church in Widnes, north West England, runs a community cafe attended by around 50 people each week alongside mental health charity Mind, said the problem had become more serious.

"The wait for counselling in this area is something like 17 weeks," she said.

"There just aren't the people out there to pick up these people who are not necessarily in the major league of mental health illnesses, so we're not talking about people who are having major meltdowns, but you're talking about people with depression, anxiety, bipolar.