DURHAM Cathedral is inviting the public to join in weekend celebrations marking the arrival of a facsimile version of the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The high-tech replica of the 1,300-year-old manuscript, produced by experts in Switzerland, was commissioned by the British Library, where the original gospels are to remain in the permanent collection.

Copies are being presented this weekend to both Durham Cathedral, home to the gospels until Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, and the Heritage Centre at Lindisfarne, where they were produced by Eadfrith and monks at the priory in memory of St Cuthbert.

A simultaneous special exhibition, featuring the original manuscript, is also opening this weekend at The British Library.

'The Painted Labyrinth: The World of the Lindisfarne Gospels' runs for the next six months at the library.

Lord Eatwell, chair-man of The British Library, is the guest of honour, at a service of thanksgiving and dedication of the replica copy of the gospels, at the cathedral this Friday.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the service, which will feature a Gospel Procession and readings in the original Latin, old and modern English.

The facsimile itself can be viewed by the public from 10am to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday, when there will also be free entry to the cathedral treasury and the exhibition Building the Cathedral, as well as the Monks' Dormitory.

Customers to the cathedral's Undercroft Restaurant can also taste a piece of Cuthbert's Pie free with every hot or cold drink purchased over the weekend.