Police quiz 'Bonking Bishop' over rape claim

A former cleric dubbed the "Bonking Bishop of Brentwood" has been quizzed by detectives on suspicion of rape.

Michael Reid, 66, set up the Peniel Church, but was forced out after his wife discovered he had been having an eight-year affair with a woman in the congregation.

The former police officer from Pilgrim's Hatch, near Brentwood, Essex, was arrested in an early morning raid on his home and has been questioned by detectives after a rape claim was made.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: "A 66-year-old man from Brentwood was arrested on 27 August on suspicion of historical rape. He has been bailed until November."

The married father-of-three founded the Peniel Church in 1976 as a small bible study group which grew to a 800-strong church in Pilgrim's Hatch and a second ministry in Arizona, USA.

He hit the headlines in 2005 when he led a campaign against the BBC's decision to broadcast Jerry Springer: The Opera.

Last year, he was voted out of the church he had set up after he confessed to adultery.