A FORMER rector of Hexham Abbey has expressed his concern over 'covid deniers', asking "which bit do they not understand?"

The Rt Rev. Graham Usher, served at Hexham for a decade between 2004 and 2014, before becoming the Bishop of Dudley. 

Now the Bishop of Norwich since June last year, Rev. Usher took to social media on Sunday afternoon to express frustration at 'covid deniers'. 

It comes a day after 16 people were arrested during an anti-lockdown protest in south London.

Police officers clashed with some of the maskless protesters who arrived in Clapham Common, some shouting "take your freedom back".

On Twitter, Rev. Usher said: "The Covid-deniers make me so cross, not least because they think only of themselves and not their neighbours. Which bit do they not understand?"

The husband of a doctor, Rev. Usher said he had witnessed first hand the level of care needed to keep people safe from the virus. 

He added: "Being married to a doctor, I see the long hours, the bagged scrubs waiting to be washed, the sheer commitment to patient care."