FINAL preparations will be made today for tomorrow's church ceremony marking the appointment of the new Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.

Canon Kevin Dunn will become the 12th bishop for the Roman Catholic diocese that stretches from Teesside to the Scottish borders, covering an area of 3,500 sq miles.

The position is the most senior in the North-East Roman Catholic church, which includes an estimated 223,000 followers served by 215 diocesan priests, 200 parish churches and 223 schools and educational establishments.

Leading figures from the Catholic church across Britain, including 26 bishops, will attend the episcopal ordination, at St Mary's RC Cathedral, in Newcastle.

Civic leaders and representatives of other churches will also attend.

Bishop Ambrose Griffiths, who is stepping down after he reached the compulsory retirement age of 75, will ordain the bishop-elect, assisted by the Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, and the Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly.

The ceremony will be attended by papal representative Monsigneur Marek Zalewski, the first secretary at the Apostelic Nunciature, in London, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and the Archbishop of Glasgow, the Most Reverend Mario Conti.

The ceremony, which starts at noon, marks the official transfer of office to Bishop Dunn from Bishop Ambrose, who will symbolically hand over his crozier and pectoral cross, also known as the Cuthbert, or Durham, cross, to his successor.

Following the service, Bishop Dunn will attend a reception in the grounds of St Mary's.

Later, he will lead a celebration of Solemn Vespers for a congregation of almost 600 people from across the diocese, also at St Mary's, at 7pm.

The new bishop, who is 53, was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, in Staffordshire, and has been Episcopal Vicar for the deaneries of Wolverhampton, Walsall, the Black Country and Worcestershire, as well as a member of the Archbishop's Council in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, since 2001.

Bishop Ambrose, who stands down after 12 years, is returning to his former parish, Leyland, in Lancashire, where he will be serving as an assistant priest.