The Church of England's Head of Research and Statistics has released a new book this week revealing that people across Britain are increasingly unhappy despite being more prosperous than ever before, the Church of England newspaper has reported.

Rev Lynda Barley has launched 'Community Value', a book showing that local churches are highly regarded by their local communities, and act as a type of "community glue".

With the increasing fragmentation of British society, the book seeks to identify ways in which the Church engages with the communities around itself.

Ms Barley has said: "At the beginning of the twenty-first century the people of Britain have become a nation of islands where individual aspirations may have 'gained us the world' but at the expense of our social cohesion - and the cracks are beginning to show," according to the Church of England newspaper.

In the book she highlights examples of church work in the community, such as a church toy shop in Yorkshire, as well as the converting of a derelict undercroft into a youth drop-in centre in Welland near Worcester.

The Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres offers an introduction to the book, where he explains that a lot of "what the Church is doing in the community goes on below the radar".

Giving his full backing to the book, he said: "Lynda Barley has assembled the facts in a very accessible way and in future there should be no excuse for missing the significant community value of churches - well beyond their primary purpose as places of worship.

"At the same time there is a challenge in these pages for church communities as we seek to make the best possible use of the opportunities that we have inherited."