WHEN Michael Wilson's telephone rings he springs into action as Rent-a-Bishop - ready to answer the call of the people of East Lancashire.

Bishop Michael, 62, is founder of The Order of On Call Clergy, which is part of Christian Church.

And he is available for hire for weddings, funerals, christenings or any other type of blessing - whether it's in churches, pubs, building sites or supermarket aisles!

He said: "If someone comes to me to ask for God's blessing it is not for me to refuse it.

"I will go to any venue, any where, at any time and for anyone - as long as the people genuinely want the blessing."

Bishop Michael founded the order in October 1999, while he was practising as a Catholic priest. He was consecrated as a Bishop on November 10, 2001, at St Leonard's Church, Hazlewood.

He is now self employed and chose to set up the break-away order, which accepts clergy from any denomination, to reach as many people as possible. There are now 37 on-call clergy in the UK.

He said: "By extending our hand to anyone without judgement we can reach people who may have been traditionally rejected by the church. We try to move away from set denominations and look at it more as one faith in God."

Since then he has conducted numerous christenings in Lancashire pubs, married bikers at local motorbike festivals and administered blessings on the roadside from his specially adapted Bishop-mobile.

He added: "The message is to sow the seed - the seed is the word of God - to as many people as possible. Just a few weeks ago I was travelling down the M62 in the pouring rain when I saw a woman stood holding a baby and trying to keep a toddler under control on the hard shoulder.

"Her car had broken down so I put on my hazard lights, pulled over and helped as much as I could until the RAC arrived."

Michael, who lives in Leyland, is licensed personally to conduct these services, rather than a venue, which would traditionally hold the licence.

He said: "There is some resentment and backlash from some denominations but we have to battle against them and live by faith."

By offering his services to all without exception, Michael has even carried out blessings for same sex couples.

He said: "I have no issues with blessing same sex couples but must make sure that it is God's blessing that they want and are not just going through a ceremony for show because they can't legally marry."

Martin Halsall, from the Blackburn Diocese, said: "This is a welcome and positive ministry led by senior representatives of a Christian denomination."