The head of England's Roman Catholics today faced new calls for his resignation following the conviction of a priest for child sex offences.

Former Gatwick chaplain Father Michael Hill is behind bars after admitting six indecent assaults. But fresh allegations of abuse by priests working in Sussex in the mid-Nineties have continued to tarnish the Roman Catholic Church.

Hill was remanded in custody at the Old Bailey yesterday after pleading guilty to six indecent assaults against boys as young as 10 between 1969 and 1987.

In 1981 Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, then Bishop of Brighton and Arundel and now Archbishop of Westminster, was told Hill may pose a danger to children.

Despite the warnings, he allowed Hill to continue working after he had checked into a therapy centre for priests in Gloucestershire.

Hill was jailed for five years in 1997 for ten child sex offences between 1969 and 1987.

Renewed accusations of abuse by eight priests who worked in the diocese have increased pressure on the archbishop to step down.

Alleged victims and their families have written to the BBC's Today programme claiming their concerns about local priests were ignored when they contacted police and the church in the mid-Nineties.

The diocese and police have said they are not investigating priests in the area.

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "We are waiting for the outcome of proceedings against Father Michael Hill and will look at any issues which may come to light.

"We will no doubt be reviewing the information we already have. We sought early advice from the Crown Prosecution Service some time ago and may well seek further advice.

"As far as we are aware, there is no ongoing investigation into accusations against eight priests."

The Roman Catholic Church has tried to draw a line under the affair.

A spokesman for the Archbishop said: "Michael Hill pleaded guilty to offences which he himself admitted in therapy. Other charges were dropped.

"Hopefully, this opens the way to a conclusion of the inquiry into the handling of Hill's case 20 years ago."

But the conclusion of the Hill case has failed to stem a rising tide of criticism against the archbishop.

Margaret Kennedy, founder of the group Minister and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, said: "I think his situation is untenable. It seems that he had misused his leadership skills.

"Regardless of what they knew about paedophiles and regardless of what they understood about re-offending, he should at some human, moral level have said we don't want priests who have sex with children in our ministry."

Sheila Spiller, who lived next door to Hill in Western Road, Sompting, joined calls for the archbishop's resignation.

She said: "Michael Hill was a known paedophile for many years. It is good news he is behind bars but he was allowed to get away with his crimes for too long."

Hill will be sentenced on Thursday.