SOLAR panels — 184 of them — have been installed and blessed on the roof of York Minster.

The Dean, the Very Revd Dominic Barrington, prayed: “Bless these solar panels that they may help us in our endeavours to build mission and ministry in this place and make us ever more conscious of the need to serve your planet and preserve it for the generations yet to come.”

The Minster posted on social media: “The 70,000 kWh of energy that the new panels are generating each year will allow us to better care for God’s creation and safeguard the cathedral for the next generation.”

The Archbishop of York was “thrilled”, he said: “Harnessing renewable energy is a powerful step in caring for God’s creation.”