RECTOR of Poole Bob Mason has welcomed the Church of England's call to slash its carbon footprint.

A guide - endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams - asks vicars to think again when it comes to switching on church floodlights.

The move, outlined in the booklet, Don't Stop at the Lights, comes eight years after the introduction of a multi-million pound scheme to install floodlights at hundreds of the nation's churches.

The guide also includes other ideas aimed to "reconnect the church to the natural world".

Mr Mason, of St James' Church, Church Street, Poole, said: "Here we use a compromise. We don't floodlight the entire church but we light up the tower so it can be seen from Hamworthy and by ships in the port - but these haven't been working properly recently so I guess we've been doing our bit for the environment!"

The historic Poole church, known by some locally as the fishermen's church, has long associations with the fishing trade.

The new guide suggests parishioners should sponsor illuminations for special occasions.

Mr Mason said: "Certainly there can be quite a lot of difficulties when it comes to lighting churches in general - in fact, because of the size of the church and health and safety, it is quite often difficult to change a lightbulb.

"We often need specialised electrical contractors so we try to use the most energy efficient, long lasting lighting methods."

The 148-page guide was written by former Church of England adviser Claire Foster, along with David Shreeve, a current adviser to the church and director of The Conservation Foundation.

Dr Williams said: "All Christians have an important role to play in developing their own environmental awareness and encouraging it in others.

"I am delighted that the Church of England now has this helpful guide, which will prove invaluable for those wanting to plan their own services and for those looking to find a deeper theological understanding of our Christian concern for Creation."