REVEREND Paul Mothersdale has been appointed as priest-in-charge of the parish of Malew.

The reverend is currently the Rector of the Benefice of Thornton Dale which is on the southern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors comprising five rural churches.

He has also been the Rural Dean of the Deanery of Northern Ryedale since 2006.

Reverend Mothersdale was born and brought up in Leeds. After leaving school he joined the police force and served as a road traffic officer with the motorway unit and the underwater search unit.

He went on to become a training officer before being ordained in 1997 and then serving as assistant curate in the parish of Kirkleatham, Redcar. In 2000 he became the Vicar of Easterside an urban priority area church in Middlesborough before leaving in 2005 to take up his current post.

He is married to Jackie and has three grown up children and has an interest in photography, model and preserved steam railways and cycling.

Reverend Mothersdale is expected to be in position in the autumn.