THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has admitted the row over gay bishops has caused serious "fractures" in the Anglican church.

Members of the US Episcopal church and the Anglican Church in Canada, which have supported the ordination of homosexuals and same-sex marriages, were last week ejected from the Anglican consultative council.

It has prompted fears of a split in the Anglican community, which counts around 78m people worldwide as followers. Dr Williams admitted that the American groups, who have been asked to consider their position, may be excluded from the next Lambeth Conference.

"Though I don't want to second guess what the North American churches might do, the cost of carrying on with this sort of unilateral development is very high," he said..

The controversy was sparked by the US ordination of the first openly-gay Anglican bishop, Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire.

Some have called for the Episcopal church to be expelled if it refuses to stop ordaining homosexuals.

Dr Williams added: "I don't think all those who took these actions fully realised how deep that fracture might be."

But gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: "The archbishop seems more interested in appeasing homophobes than defending the rights of homosexuals.

"Dr Williams appears prepared to maintain church unity at any price.