A west Norfolk vicar who is leaving to take up a new post in Oxfordshire said he would miss 'the lovely people' he has met and worked with.

Originally from the US, Dale Gingrich, 51, church team vicar at St Faith's in Gaywood, arrived in King's Lynn in January 2008.

He came to England after his wife, Anne Marie Karlsson was offered a job teaching at Cambridge University.

He said: 'I had been a Lutheran priest in America, so I had to train to become a Church of England vicar. I was contacted by the then Bishop of Lynn, James Langstaff, who thought I would be a good fit for St Faith's, after reading my profile.

'I will miss the lovely people I have met here, and being part of a local ecumenical partnership and working alongside colleagues in Churches Together in King's Lynn have been the best years of mission and ministry I have known since my ordination in Nebraska in 1993.'

His new parish, near Banbury, includes the villages of Bloxham, South Newington and Milcombe.

He added: 'I'm looking forward to it. It's lovely country and we will be living in a converted barn. We will be taking our two cats and a dog with us. It was time for a change for both of us - St Faith's and myself.'

Mr Gingrich's final service at St Faith's was yesterday.