The man brought in to solve Bradford Cathedral's debt saga after the flop of its millennium Life Force attraction is to quit his job now that his work is done.

Cathedral Dean, the Very Reverend Dr Christopher Hancock, said he believed his mission in Bradford was at an end now that a solution to the financial crisis looked close.

Proposals for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) were sent to creditors at the beginning of July and are expected to be agreed at a creditors' meeting next Thursday.

The church has made a new offer to the companies owed money after the collapse of the millennium project, which left the cathedral with more than £4 million of debts.

It called on the help of legal advisors and accountants to draw up the agreement.

The Life Force Exhibition, intended to be a living history of faith and beliefs, opened in July 2000 only to close six months later after failing to attract sufficient visitors.

Dr Hancock said it had been a harrowing time for everyone closely involved in the failure of Life Force and the quest for an appropriate solution.

And he hoped the CVA would be seen as the best, if not the only, way out of the "terrible mess" although he deeply regretted no other solution had proved possible.

York firm Past Forward is owed £106,000 by Bradford Cathedral after it designed an £860,000 exhibition for the project.

The company won a court judgement which said the debt must be repaid. But, because the law states a Church of England cathedral cannot be made bankrupt, the firm was powerless to recover the cash.

Dr Hancock said he was optimistic the CVA would now be signed at the end of this month and added: "With that, I believe my work here will be at an end.

"I have believed for some time that my primary task here was to resolve the Life Force problem."

He said he and his wife Suzie were now looking forward with anticipation to what lay ahead for them.

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David James, said Dr Hancock had made a huge contribution to the city and diocese of Bradford since he arrived in 2002 and paid tribute to his hard work and dedication in pursuing a solution to

the Cathedral's financial problems.

"It has been a difficult and painful time

for everyone and I wish him, and his wife well in the future," he said.

The search to find Dr Hancock's successor has already begun, led by the Simeon Trustees who are the Cathedral's patrons.

The Dean's last Sunday in Bradford will be on September 26 and he will then be on sabbatical leave.