Brit bishop, who denied affair with married woman vicar, lives with her now

London, June 4 (ANI): A Bishop who quit after denying he had an affair with a married female chaplain has been revealed to be living with her now in a house they bought together.

Carl Cooper had resigned as Bishop of St Davids, west Wales, in June 2008 amid rumours that he and mother-of-two Rev Mandy Williams-Potter were having an affair.

Bishop Cooper and Williams-Potter issued a series of public statements denying that they were in a relationship, but just two years later they are living together in a quiet country town.

Land Registry records show they bought an end of terrace house in Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, for 197,500 pounds.

In February 2008 Bishop Cooper, 49, and his wife Joy, who have three grown-up children, announced in a joint statement that they were separating after 25 years of marriage.

"Regrettably, we write to inform you that we have experienced difficulties in our relationship with each other," the Daily Express quoted them as writing in a letter sent to all diocesan clergy.

"Sadly and tragically we have decided to separate. There is no one else involved on either side. We are committed to an on-going, amicable relationship of mutual care and support," they stated.

Two weeks later it emerged that a petition, signed by 23 clerics in the diocese, had been circulated calling for a formal investigation to see whether the bishop was guilty of "conduct giving just cause for scandal and offence" through his friendship with his female chaplain.

Williams-Potter, 41, then issued a statement of her own, saying she was splitting up with her husband.

"I am not in an inappropriate relationship with Bishop Carl. I confirm that my husband, Chris, and I are planning to separate, but at present are still living together. There is no one else involved in the break-up of our marriage," her statement read.

"The two marital breakdowns are tragically coincidental and not connected in any way.

"I know about the rumours but I don't know where they have come from. But there is nothing in them. Obviously someone has been spreading this information but I don't know who it could be," she had added.

Williams-Potter and her teacher husband have two children aged 14 and nine, and at the time of their separation had been married for 13 years.

Their home was a mile away from the Bishop's Palace near Carmarthen - the official residence of Bishop Cooper.

Seven weeks after going on leave of absence both Bishop Cooper and Williams-Potter resigned.

A statement issued by the Church in Wales said the bishop had "apologised for any of his actions that have caused offence and made it impossible for him to continue his ministry".

"I believe in the light of his previous denials that he was in a relationship with Mandy, Carl owes an explanation to people in the diocese," a priest said on June 3.

"Given all the turmoil a couple of years ago, it isn't enough to say he doesn't wish to comment on his private life," the priest added. (ANI)