A Church of England report into last year's riots wanted to "sound a clear warning note" about the "social consequences" of austerity measures, a senior cleric said on Sunday , as he presented research highlighting the effect of government cuts on people in areas where violence broke out.

The Rt Rev Peter Price, bishop of Bath and Wells, said he had no intention of being sentimental about the rioters, who, he said, had ruined other people's lives. But he said such disturbances could also be "a kind of spiritual escape" for people who have little else in their lives.

Price said that, while the report's authors recognised the "immense pressure" on the coalition, they felt entitled to speak out about the impact of its policies on the most vulnerable in society.

He told the General Synod meeting in York: "It is perfectly possible to empathise with the chancellor of the exchequer and those responsible for policy, recognising the immense pressure they are under from the financial markets and credit rating agencies, and at the same time, sound a clear warning note about the social consequences of austerity measures which hit the most vulnerable hardest and leave the very rich unscathed."

The kind of rioting seen last summer, Price added, embodied "appalling evil and criminality".

But he cited Austin Smith, a Passionist Catholic priest from Liverpool who died in 2011, who said such rioting could be "literally an ecstatic experience" after the Toxteth trouble in the 1980s.

"Something is released in the participants which takes them out of themselves as a kind of spiritual escape," Price said. "The tragedy of our times is that, once again, we have a large population of young people who are desperate to escape from the constrained lives to which they seem to be condemned.

"Where hope has been killed off, is it surprising that their energies erupt in antisocial and violent actions?"

Written by the church's mission and public affairs (MPA) council, the Testing the Bridges report is made up of interviews with clergy around the country who witnessed riots breaking out in August 2011.

While acknowledging that the causes of the disorder are "complex and disputed", it explores the impact of cuts on some of the hard-hit areas and says residents there spoke of "increasing pressure and despair" as services such as youth centres and legal advice centres disappear.Criticising some parts of the media for denigrating the affected areas and describing rioters as "feral", the report says such terms should be "strongly resisted". It adds: "No one explanation [for the riots] is likely to be adequate. It remains that the impact of current economic problems on already vulnerable people contributes to a feeling of hopelessness which may sometimes emerge in destructive and antisocial actions.

"The fact that the current pressures on the vulnerable are taking place against a background of very wide and growing inequality of wealth, adds a further dimension to the problems of building social cohesion."

Faced with speculation that the riots could recur, the MPA says that life in communities affected by the disturbances can feel "near the edge".

At best, clergy working there see no sign that "helpful structures and initiatives" are going to improve, it writes. "At worst they see whole swaths of good work disappearing under the impact of austerity and financial pressure. The implications for the future of vulnerable communities are easily imagined. Nothing is inevitable – but the auguries are not reassuring."

Speaking on the third day of Synod, Price said: "Pray God that there will be no such repeated trouble. But make no mistake, social tensions will not go away and hopelessness in our communities ... is something we are all called upon to address, preferably before the cauldron bubbles over."Follow the Guardian's extensive report into the riots here.