BY any yardstick, the call by the trade union, MSF, for a 50 per cent increase in the pay of Church of England vicars is unwise.

Because, even taking into account the clergy's modest £16,000 stipend, the demand is plainly way over the top.

From that viewpoint alone, it is hardly surprising that some East Lancashire parish priests have distanced themselves from the campaign.

And they have an even better reason for doing so, when the burden of such an increase would fall on their parishes, many of which already struggle financially and when many among the congregations in low-wage areas already have to cope on far less than their vicars are paid.

That said, vicars are not well rewarded. It is a calling whose members do not expect to be richly paid, but they still have to live.

And that is the case even though they have tied housing -- a benefit which leads many people to mistakenly assume that vicars live comfortably.

But although they are fulfilling a Christian calling they are modestly rewarded for the amount of work they do.

Apart from their church duties, vicars, as well as being on call 24 hours a day, have long working hours in which they undertake numerous unofficial and auxiliary functions -- from being counsellors, sick visitors and quasi-social workers to acting as teachers and spokesmen and women for their communities. And for such a demanding role, it is obvious that a car is a necessity -- and considerable expense out of a limited income.

But though vicars do not baulk at their burden, it is plain that a fair, if restrained, pay rise is owed to them for the valuable work they do for thousands of people. And if they and their families are to enjoy more than polite poverty, it should be soon forthcoming -- though, thank heavens, most clergy have a far more realistic view of how much it should be than the immoderate MSF.