A striking new figure has emerged to fill the void in two villages that have been without a permanent vicar.

Father Darcy Chesterfield-Terry was licensed at St Mary the Virgin Church in Datchet by the Bishop of Buckingham Right Reverend Alan Wilson on Monday.

As well as being vicar at St Mary's he will also take the reins at St Thomas Church in nearby Colnbrook.

Father Darcy, 36, who is married with a four-year-old son stands 6ft 4ins and with his impressive beard scored a big hit when he was one of several candidates for the job 'grilled' by pupils at Datchet's Churchmead School.

Now the village will be home for him and his family.

He is a former police community support officer who was based in Hampshire, where he worked on various youth orientated projects and organised a successful soapbox derby which raised so much for good causes that he was awarded the Bronze Community pin from Hampshire Constabulary.

He loved the job, saying: "It was a small community and nearest police back-up was 20 minutes away.

"But it was not a problem. I knew everybody in the town so nobody ran away if I caught them doing something they should not, because I knew who they were."

But something was missing and he says he began to realise he had a calling to serve in the church.

He said: "When I got the calling I tried ignoring it but it would not go away. After a year I capitulated."

During his training for the priesthood he attended a two-week study course based in Jerusalem and studied at the Venerable English College in Rome - a Roman Catholic seminary - as part of an ecumenical exchange programme.

He served as a curate near Portsmouth from 2015 where his contribution to the community included playing a genie and 'Little John' in pantomimes and becoming a vital part of the celebrated annual May fair..

His other interests range from scuba diving (with experience of being a lifeguard), paintballing, photography, fishing, archery and boating.

He is clearly destined to 'make a splash' in both the villages he now serves.