A DISTURBING picture is emerging of the way York Minster has been run in recent years. We were already aware of the terrible financial straits the great church is in, and the unfortunate consequences: the introduction of an admission charge and the threat to the Minster library.

Today we report claims that a culture of unnecessary spending and "overgenerous perks" developed at the Minster as its debts built up.

Canon John Toy is a respected former member of the Chapter with no personal axe to grind. He has spoken out because he regrets being party to what he clearly considered extravagant spending. His honesty and courage are laudable.

Arguably the most outrageous of Canon Toy's "extras" was his membership of a London club, close to the Palace of Westminster, costing up to £400 a year. It will astonish and infuriate Minster benefactors to learn that money they donated for the upkeep of the cathedral might have been diverted to pay for a luxurious London retreat for the top clergy.

Canon Toy says the recently retired Dean, Raymond Furnell, sought to run the Minster like a business. Perhaps if his methods had ensured its financial security we would not be questioning them now.

But he departed with York Minster losing half a million pounds a year. The Dean and Chapter were seemingly enjoying the perks of leading business executives while apparently not delivering businesslike cost savings.

In a company, such big losses would place those in the boardroom under intense scrutiny. The most worrying aspect of today's allegations is the Dean's apparent lack of accountability. It seems the Minster finances were a mystery to the public who donated to its coffers, and also initially to members of the Chapter.

This week York MP Hugh Bayley called for a thorough explanation of the Minster's troubled finances. Only full and frank disclosure of the facts and a promise of future probity will allow the public to begin rebuilding its faith in the York Minster authorities.

Updated: 11:22 Thursday, June 19, 2003