'Drunken' Bishop of Southwark to resign next year

The Bishop of Southwark, who hit the headlines over an alleged drunken episode, today announced he will resign next year.

The Rt Rev Dr Tom Butler will step down from his post in March after turning 70, the statutory retirement age.

The bishop may be best remembered for losing his crucifix and memory during the widely-publicised episode of December 2006, when a member of the public found the bishop throwing toys around in the back of his Mercedes, in Crucifix Lane, Southwark.

Asked what he was doing, the bishop allegedly told Paul Sumpter: "I'm the Bishop of Southwark. It's what I do."

The bishop, a married father of two, has held the post since 1998 and had previously been bishop of Leicester, where he joined the House of Lords.

He was ordained in 1964 and served in Cambridgeshire, Kent and London, as well as five years as chaplain to the University of Zambia in Lusaka.

On the night of his alleged drunkenness in 2006, the bishop returned home to Tooting Bec from a reception at the Irish embassy in Mayfair with a black eye but without his crucifix, briefcase and mobile phone.

He denied being drunk and maintained he was mugged. He said at the time: "It would have been entirely out of character for me to be drunk."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, decided to take no action.