According to the church officials, British archbishops have announced plans to try to avert a Church of England rift over the issue of female bishops.

The BBC has said that the archbishops of Canterbury and York have proposed a compromise ahead of the meeting of the church's general synod next month, which will debate draft legislation on female bishops.

The BBC further reported that archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop of York John Sentamu have offered a compromise to opponents of women bishops that would involve "co-ordinate jurisdiction," in which another bishop would supervise traditionalist parishes. The proposal involves complex arrangements for objectors in dioceses in which women are consecrated as bishops.

The Church Times (London) also reported that under the proposal, a diocesan bishop, male or female, would be "legally entitled to exercise any episcopal function in any parish of the diocese," but would refrain from doing so in a parish that had made a formal request for a traditionalist bishop.

The archbishops have said that a similar form of overlapping jurisdiction can be found in the courts and other statutory bodies. (With Inputs from Agencies)