A priest has been banned for life by the Church of England after an affair with a married parishioner.

Reverend Simon Sayers, 55, of Emsworth, Hampshire, began the secret relationship after the woman approached him for ‘comfort and support’.

At a private tribunal this week, he admitted ‘betraying his calling’ when he was found guilty of inappropriate conduct.

He had already been suspended over a separate affair with a 16-year-old school girl in the 90s.

The hearing heard Sayers sent the married woman saucy texts during the affair nine years ago.

In one, Sayers told his lover: ‘I’m home now but really enjoyed you sitting astride me sans panties.’

And in another, he said: ‘You too are the most passionate, sexy, skilled and sensuous lover and my body is yours, my heart and soul are yours forever.’

The tribunal heard the woman thought the pair were ‘in love’, but Sayers described the affair as ‘shameful’.

In 2016, Sayers was suspended for five years by the CoE for ‘sexual incidents’ with a 16-year-old girl while serving as a vicar in London in 1995.

In a letter to the panel hearing, Sayers said: ‘I can offer no excuse, only my profound sorrow for betraying my wife and my calling once more, after that terrible incident in 1995.

‘During the autumn of 2010, there was a shameful affair. We were both facing painful issues, and mutual comfort and support strayed appallingly into an affair.’

A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Portsmouth, where Sayers had been based, said he will not be able to work as a Church of England clergyman again.

She said: ‘The penalty reflects the seriousness of this misconduct. The Church of England takes all allegations of misconduct seriously.’

After his lifetime ban, a number of former parishioners have defended their former rector, claiming he had been harshly treated.

Retired Scotland Yard murder squad detective chief superintendent Brendan Gibb-Gray said: ‘I feel immensely sorry for him, I believe he was a good man.

‘The church should be forgiving him.

‘If no one was hurt, while this incident is contrary to Christian teaching, I feel there should have been another chance.’

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