'THE importance of building trust within society' was the key message of the Bishop of Exeter when he met members of the local business and working community at the Tavistock Town Hall last Thursday.

The Rt Rev Michael Langrish was there as part of his five-day visit to Tavistock and the surrounding area to mark the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Exeter.

Organised by the Church of England clergy in Tavistock and the surrounding area, the Bishop listened to and spoke on issues concerning the rural and business communities before taking questions.

Bishop Michael said there had been an 'erosion of trust' by the public in MPs, over the expenses scandal, which had undermined confidence in the political system itself, resulting in 'huge levels of political dissatisfaction'.

But there are resonances in the Bible to man's creative spirit to overcome such problems.

'We are as spiritual beings, also social beings, who are made in the image of God,' he said.

Trust within business was the foundation of any relationship.

The actions of corporations such as Enron, Lehman Brothers, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock, had seen a general distrust of banking and financial institutions and this trust had to be rebuilt.

'A lifetime of trust can lost in a moment. Trust is critical to maintain, but crippling to lose.'

He said: 'Looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand on a deal is long gone. We must go the extra mile to encourage other people to do so because there is still a massive erosion of trust in society.'

After his talk the Rev Geoff Lloyd, rural dean and vicar of Horrabridge, introduced a question and answer session.

Tavistock mayor Mandy Govier asked the bishop whether he thought large companies, such as Tesco had a conscience went it came to business.

'They're not all of the devil,' the bishop replied with a smile. 'Some have very good practices which others could learn from. Where I do have a problem morally with Tesco is when they rotate who they buy from so that they do not develop a relationship with those producers.'

Town and West Devon Borough Cllr Robin Pike asked him what he could offer the people of Devon as their representative in the House of Lords.

Bishop Michael said that as one of 26 bishops in the Lords, and one of eight from Devon, he worked to represent the interests of everyone in Devon but it was important that, as a bishop, he spoke from a spiritual and theological base.

Sgt Dave Anning from Tavistock police asked the bishop if he had noticed whether in the 'credit crunch' more people had turned to the church for answers.

'What I have noticed in churches in the towns during the last five years is a slight growth,' he said, 'but the cathedral has seen a huge increase, particularly among young business people, because the cathedral can offer them a safe space to help them in their exploration of the spiritual.'

Graham Hawley, headmaster of Kelly College, asked him what was his view on independent education.

The bishop said Mr Hawley was a 'naughty man' to ask such a question, especially as the headmaster knew he was a former chaplain of Rugby School.

He said: 'I am very passionate about the state education system but I fully support the independent one.'

But Bishop Michael expressed dissatisfaction, when it came to church schools, with the government tendency to 'lump' them with faith schools for their convenience.

'I don't want our schools to be distinctive, I want them to be exemplary.'

The bishop concluded that he was 'hugely impressed and heartened' by the young people he had met, particularly fifth and sixth formers, when listening to their views and the quality of questions they asked him.

After the meeting he told the Times: 'In my visit to various parts of Devon in these past ten weeks I have been generally looking, listening and learning, giving me the opportunity to meet a wide section of the community.

'The challenge is for us to look at what would restore the trust within our society and find out what values we share in common.'