PRIME Minister Tony Blair has announced the appointment of the Very Rev Michael Sadgrove as the Dean of Durham.

He will succeed the Very Rev John Arnold, who retires on December 31 to take up the role of a supporting clergyman in Canterbury.

Michael Sadgrove, 52, has been Dean of Sheffield Cathedral since 1995 and from 1987 until 1995 was Vice Provost at Coventry Cathedral. He is no stranger to the region, having been Vicar of Alnwick, Northumberland, from 1982 to 1987.

He is married to Jenny, who has roots in County Durham and is a practising psychotherapist. They have three daughters and a son.

Dean Sadgrove said coming to Durham was 'in a way, to come home.'

He said: "My wife's family are all from County Durham.

"It was 20 years ago, when I was a parish priest in Northumberland, that we got to know the North-East and grew to love this region and its people.

"No one here would quarrel with the view that Durham Cathedral is one of the best-loved buildings in the world. So to be asked to serve as the next dean is a great privilege.

"We look forward to serving this great cathedral, and to sharing in the life of the city, of the diocese and of County Durham."