Latest figures from the Church of England suggest that churchgoing at Christmas is still on the increase.

St. Paul's Cathedral and Canterbury Cathedral, among others, have had to turn people away and have added extra services to meet the demand recently, The State reported.

The Christmas congregation last year stood at 2,785,800- an increase of 156,500 over 2004. It was the highest figure since the Millennium celebrations drew 2.85 million.

Cathedrals saw an increase in Christmas attendance of 14,000 to 121,000 (News, 8 December), but the main rise was in parish churches, where an extra 142,000 people attended on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The figures did not include carol services during Advent.

Christmas communicants, who were included in the figures, increased by four per cent to 1,207,800. Results from an Opinion Research Business poll on the C of E website reported that 43 per cent of the population intended to go to a church service over Christmas last year. The figures were up from 33 per cent in 2001, and 39 per cent in 2003.

Observers were hoping the trend would continue: "The general feeling is quite bullish this year," a church spokesman said on Monday.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, said that the figures showed the Church of England was uniquely placed to welcome people back to church: "There is clearly a desire for people to consider the spiritual aspects of life at key times."