The new Bishop of Chichester had a message for non-Christians and non-believers when he took up office at the weekend.

Around 1,500 people were inside Chichester Cathedral to watch the Anglican Church at its most ceremonial and hundreds more followed the service outside on TV monitors.

They heard Bishop John Hind make a plea for unity in his first sermon since succeeding Dr Eric Kemp, who was at the ceremony to hand over the pastoral staff of office.

After speaking about the traditions of his own belief he told Saturday's congregation he wanted to speak directly to people who were not Christians.

The Bishop said: "Let those of us of different faiths talk together about our understanding of God and the transcendent values that draw us; let those of us who disagree about whether God event exists talk together about what we think is most important in human life.

"But let me say to you who do share my Christian faith - let us not be hesitant about confidently and humbly presenting the truth as we have received it."

The ceremony involved a host of senior clergymen and was conducted by the Venerable John Pritchard, Archdeacon of Canterbury. Bishop Hind's brother Timothy read one of the lessons.