An English diocese has said it won’t appeal against a tribunal’s ruling that its bishop discriminated against a gay job applicant.

Hereford’s bishop, Anthony Priddis, turned down an applicant for a youth officer’s job after questioning him about a past relationship with another man.

But the applicant, 42-year-old John Reaney, had looked set to clinch the job after he had impressed an eight-strong panel. In July, an employment tribunal found that Mr Reaney had been discriminated against.

Now, according to the Hereford Times website, there’ll be a remedy hearing in December at which it will be decided how much compensation to pay Mr Reaney. The story says the diocese won’t be appealing against the decision, because, according to its spokeswoman, Anni Holden, “Appeals can take several years and cost a lot of money.”

Mr Reaney fought his case with the gay-rights lobby group Stonewall. The website says that, between them, they “argued that a heterosexual person would not have faced the same treatment during a two-hour interview”.