Sedgefield had never seen anything like it.

Little Leo Blair was the centre of attention as it seemed the whole world descended outside the tiny St John Fisher RC Church, in the County Durham village.

In between straining for a sight of two-month-old Leo, there were, however, plenty of things to keep the locals occupied.

The Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine was said to have popped in for a pint at the village's Black Lion pub.

Hard-nosed national news reporters jostled with the crowd, as security guards looked on, with a media scrum developing to get the best view.

And to cap it all, a streaker punctured the atmosphere with a ten-yard dash during the wait for the near two-hour service to end.

Crowds of well-wishers had gathered outside before the start of the service and were rewarded when the Blairs swept into view.

Before carrying Leo into church, where he was baptised by Father John Caden, the Prime Minister took time to shake the hands of those watching.

In the crowd was pensioner Jennie Lyle, 78, from Sedgefield, who admitted a tear came to her eye.

Her daughter, Dorothy, said: "Mum shouted to Mr Blair and he came and shook hands with her, and she told him good luck."

Well-wisher Pauline Cook said: "I wanted to see them all and particularly the baby.

"His father is such a nice man, so approachable, and he used to share my husband's hymn book in church."

As the service drew on, people peered out from windows and stood outside shops, not minding the intermittent rain that fell.

Eventually, the congregation emerged, among them Tony Booth, Cherie Blair's father, who shared a joke with the crowd, and a sullen-looking Euan Blair.

Leo, clad in a white Christening shawl, was then paraded around the crowd by his beaming mother and father, and several women were allowed to touch his hand.

Next stop was the reception, held in a restaurant just yards from the church.

The final word went to Matthew Gouldburn, four, who gave some flowers to Cherie Blair and said hello to Leo.

His mother, Tracey, landlady of the Cross Hill Hotel, said: "He loves Tony Blair. Whenever he is on television he says 'Look, there's Tony Blair'."

l The godparents of Leo are a childhood friend of Mrs Blair, from Liverpool, and an old school friend of the Prime Minister, who lives in Edinburgh.

sarnol