Victims of prolific abuser John Smyth have called for more resignations after the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision to step down over his failure to report the abuse to police.

Archbishop Justin Welby resigned on Tuesday after being strongly criticised in the Makin Review over his failure to report "prolific and abhorrent" child abuse perpetrated by Smyth across decades. 

The Makin Review accused the Church of England of a "cover-up" and said the abuse "could and should have been reported to the police in 2013".

Announcing his resignation, Welby said that "stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England".

"It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024," he said. 

Former vicar Mark Stibbe, a Smyth survivor, said that Welby had "done the right thing" in resigning but that more leaders in the Church of England should go. 

"What I think the survivor group would like is more resignations because that means more accountability," he told Channel 4 News.

Another survivor who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity has called on the Bishop of Lincoln, Stephen Conway, to resign over his failure to act on a disclosure while serving as Bishop of Ely. 

In a statement, Bishop Conway said he was "deeply sorry" for not doing enough but did not respond to calls for his resignation. 

"As part of my submission to the Review, I confirmed that during my tenure as the Bishop of Ely, I received a disclosure about John Smyth," he said. 

"Once it became clear that there was an international dimension which directly affected another province of the Anglican Communion, I made a detailed disclosure to Lambeth Palace and contacted the relevant diocese in South Africa to alert them to the issue.

"It was my understanding that this matter was reported to the Police in Cambridgeshire and duly passed on to the police in Hampshire where the abuse had occurred.

"I am clear that I did all within my authority as a Bishop of the Church of England, bearing in mind that I had no authority over an entirely independent province on another continent.

"I acknowledge fully that my fault was in not rigorously pursuing Lambeth about that province-to-province communication, and for this I am deeply sorry."

The Bishop of Winchester, Phillip Mounstephen, was asked on BBC Newsnight whether the Bishop of Lincoln should resign. 

In reply, Bishop Mounstephen said, "Appropriate, proportionate action should be taken with anyone who has failed in safeguarding terms, whatever their position in the church may be." 

Responding to the Archbishop's resignation, bishops in the Diocese of Blackburn said that the Church of England has an "enormous" task on its hands to reform its safeguarding culture.

In a joint letter sent to parishioners in the diocese, Lancashire bishops Philip North, Jill Duff and Joe Kennedy said the Archbishop's decision was "understandable" and that "it is only right that those in the most senior positions are held to the highest standards". 

"As the Church of England, we now have an enormous task in front of us," they said.

"We need to renew our Church such that it places the needs of the most vulnerable, including survivors of abuse, at the centre. We need to reform our safeguarding culture and processes in order to regain people's confidence. We need to hear the voices of critics as prophetic ones."