BRITAIN'S first non-white bishop will lead a church service in Scartho this weekend.

The 106th Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, will preach at St Giles' Church, in Church Lane, this Sunday, from 10am.

Father Edward Martin invited him to preach at St Giles after they met through mutual friend and former church warden, MP for Cleethorpes, Martin Vickers.

Father Martin said: "It is splendid to be able to welcome Michael to St Giles and it is very kind of him to drop in on a parish church."

The 61-year-old - described by the church as Britain's first non-white Bishop - retired last September and now works as director of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, to Christian parents, he was ordained an Anglican priest in 1976 and worked in Karachi and Lahore.

He became the first Bishop of Raiwind in West Punjab and was, at the time, the youngest bishop in the Anglican Communion.

He was appointed Bishop of Rochester in 1994 and in 1999 entered the House of Lords as one of the Lords Spiritual – the first religious leader from Asia to serve there.

The retired bishop is a leading authority on Christian-Muslim relations and church history.