THE Bishop of Rochester has hit back at accusations he overspent on his hospitality this year. The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali is denying claims he totted up one of the highest bills for hospitality of all the Church of England bishops.

In the first Bishops' Office and Working Costs report, published this week, he is revealed to have spent £13,907 on entertaining in the past year. The expenses for the majority of other bishops ranged from £1,000 to £10,000. Their total expenses were £9.3 million, one per cent of the Church's annual £800m turnover.

The report says the Bishop of Rochester's hospitality allowance was £15,139, compared with £2,594 for the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds. A note in the report says the bishop's bill included payments to his wife for catering over two years.

But the Rev Chris Stone, spokesman for the bishop, explained the costs were only higher because they included some expenses from the previous year. He denied that having a hefty hospitality bill was a problem anyway. He said: "It is very important to maintain good links with the community."

In the past year, said Mr Stone, the bishop had welcomed more than 5,000 people into his home: "BishopÕs Court is the bishop's "ouse as well as his office. There are always lots of meetings taking place and lots of visitors.

ÒIn order to maintain good contacts with the community, he holds a garden party each year where he can meet lots of members of the community."

The bishop also holds two receptions a year for newly ordained priests and their families. The report, which took two years to compile, was commissioned as a way of dispelling critics' suggestions that the 114 bishops live lavish lifestyles. But critics this week claimed the report proved that some bishops lived more lavishly than others. The wide discrepancies in expenses has been put down to bishops' differing responsibilities and the different sizes of their dioceses.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, topped the expenses tables, with the Archbishop of York, Dr David Hope, a close second. The majority of expenses are reimbursed through central church funds.