The Bradford diocese is looking for ways to be more cost-effective, even though it already boasts the country's thriftiest bishop.

The diocese already has a joint education board with Leeds and Ripon and now it is on the lookout for other areas of responsibility that could be shared.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has headed a private meeting of top church leaders to look at the changing role of bishops and how some of their costs could be transferred to other, needier areas.

The top-level meeting sparked off suggestions in the media that some bishops might lose their jobs and some dioceses, including Bradford, could be swallowed up by larger dioceses.

But the Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David James, today dismissed those fears and said cutting the number of bishops and dioceses was "not on the agenda".

He said: "There are no plans at the moment to cut down on the number of dioceses though many dioceses are seeking ways of working more closely together, sharing resources to improve effectiveness and efficiency.

"For example, Bradford and Ripon and Leeds currently have a joint education board and this enables us to offer a much more professional service to our church schools than when we had separate education teams.

"We shall be looking at other ways of working together in the region."

Earlier this year the Bishop of Bradford was named as the country's thriftiest bishop, identified for his cost-effectiveness in a review carried out by the Church.

It revealed he spends £56,798 a year on staff, compared to the £933,515 spent by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the Church's most lavish spender.

And while the Archbishop of Canterbury is whisked around in a luxury car with a built-in computer, driven by a chauffeur, the economical Bradford bishop is happy driving his own £5,000 Skoda.

The Church of England has 110 bishops and the average annual cost of supporting a bishop's ministry is £160,000, making a total annual cost of about £18 million.

A spokesman for the Church of England confirmed bishops' working groups were looking at how some of their costs could be transferred to other areas. He said they were not talking about cuts.

Bradford Cathedral is technically insolvent with debts of £4.5 million after the collapse of the Life Force Millennium project.