A Friern Barnet vicar is to gain an honorary title in recognition of his long service to the Diocese of London.

The Rev Adrian Benjamin, of All Saints Church, in Oakleigh Road North will be named the Prebendary of Eald Street at a ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral this month.

Mr Benjamin is known as something of an unorthodox clergyman, largely due to his unusual range of interests. He regularly writes and appears in plays, at the All Saints Arts Centre and on the streets of Barnet, and last year appeared in a reality TV programme.

The Search, for Channel Four, saw ten contestants compete to decipher clues in locations around the world and win £50,000. Mr Benjamin reached the final before losing out to a German Oxford PhD student.

His new title means he will have his own dedicated seat in St Paul's Cathedral, in the City of London, where he will soon be invited to make a speech.

Mr Benjamin said: "It was completely unexpected. I never thought that I'd become a member of the establishment.

"It sounds like something out of Harry Potter. Nobody even seems to know where Eald Street is."

The institution of prebendaries dates back to the Middle Ages, when they would play an active role in the administration of cathedrals.

Prebendaries were dissolved in 1547 by Henry VIII as part of the Reformation, the political separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church. But they were retained as honorary titles by a few select dioceses, including London.

Asked whether his position would be strictly symbolic, Mr Benjamin said: "You never know. When I was chaplain to the Mayor of Barnet it was said I was one of the only chaplains to take the job seriously.

"I stayed at the town hall throughout meetings, rather than just opening them, and when the mayor visited hospitals I would make a pastoral visit too. I even made pancakes for the mayor in his parlour on Shrove Tuesday. I don't want to be just a name on a bit of paper."

He insisted that his church would not suffer from his new responsibilities. "All Saints won't die a death without me, it's not that sort of place," he added. Mr Benjamin will be installed as prebendary in St Paul's Cathedral at 3.15pm on October 14.