The Canterbury Diocesan Synod has voted in favour of passing laws which allow women to be ordained as bishops.

Forty-two members of the House of Clergy backed the legislation while eight voted against. Lay members voted 52 in favour, six against and two abstentions.

Trevor Wilmott, the Bishop of Dover, was among those in favour of the move and helped draft the legislation.

He spoke in support of it during the Canterbury Diocesan Synod meeting at the Cathedral on Saturday.

Bishop Trevor told the meeting that he had long believed that God was calling women to share the ordained ministry of the church and that it is right for women become priests and bishops.

Canterbury is one of 44 dioceses in the Church of England and if a majority of 23 approve the ordination of women then the matter will go before the General Synod whose steering committee will oversee its progress through to final approval.

The General Synod is likely to decide the matter in July 2012 where a two-thirds majority is needed in the Houses of Clergy, Bishops and Laity.
If that is passed, the draft measure would need to be accepted by Parliament and receive Royal Assent before it can become law and just like an Act of Parliament.

The earliest that the first women could be consecrated as bishops is 2014.
The issue of the ordination women has divided Anglicans.

In April it was reported that many of those who oppose ordination of women would defect to the Roman Catholic Church, which does not ordain women as priests.