A Church of England vicar and Colman’s mustard heiress husband have been asked to step back from church activities after they were named in a damning harassment report that led to the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Rev Sue Colman, assistant vicar at St Leonard’s Church in Oakley, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, was aware of the abuse of John Smyth before he was ordained, the independent Makin Review found.

The review said Ms Colman and her husband, Sir Jamie, visited Smyth in Africa in the 1990s and financed the Smyths through a personal trust.

“Given their role as trustees, it is likely, on the balance of probabilities, that both Jamie and Sue Colman had significant knowledge of abuses in the UK and Africa,” the review said.

Victims of Smyth, a lawyer who ran Christian summer camps and is thought to be the most prolific abuser associated with the Church, have called for more resignations of senior clergy involved in the scandal.

He added: “Mr Colman does not hold a formal ministerial position in our diocese but has also been asked to step back from volunteering.”

The statement said the Bishop of Winchester, Philip Mounstephen, “made clear that all failures in conservation, whether local or national, must be treated with the utmost seriousness and that the response to these failures must be proportionate and appropriate.”

The review said he died aged 77 in Cape Town in 2018 while under investigation by Hampshire Police and “was never brought to justice for the abuse”.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said on Tuesday that the decision to resign, which came after days of pressure following the publication of the report, was in the best interest of the Church.

The Telegraph newspaper reported that the Church’s National Protection Team was investigating the actions of at least 30 officials named in the report.