The Bishop of Dover has confirmed to the BBC that she is not a contender for the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

Speculation has been rife since Justin Welby resigned in November following a report into John Smyth, now known as the “most prolific abuser linked to the Church of England”.

In an interview, Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin also expressed being “deeply saddened” at the way Welby was treated.

The report found Welby “could and should” have done more about the allegations of abuse that were known a few years back. It also found the Church of England, including Mr Welby, "knew, at the highest level" about John Smyth's abuse by 2013.

Bishop Hudson-Wilkin said: "I am deeply saddened at the way we have treated our archbishop and I did not want our archbishop to have resigned."

When asked if she concurred with the finding that Welby could have done more to report the allegations, Bishop Rose said: "I am not sure that, even if the finding said he could have done more and should have done more, we knew that the police officers involved have said that they were informed.

"You do not get the Archbishop, or the Bishop, or anyone constantly knocking on the police's door to say, 'have you done your job?"

She emphasised that the priority now must be to implement the recommendations outlined in the report.

"That's [what] we need to be addressing.”

A new Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to be appointed in the coming months.