Search is on for real life Sidney Chambers to fill vacant vicar post in Grantchester

James Norton filming on the set of ITV's Grantchester Credit: ITV News Anglia

Sidney Chambers is the crime fighting clergyman who's become a regular feature on our small screens. Actor James Norton plays the local vicar-turned-sleuth in the hit ITV series Grantchester.

In the real life Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester where the story is set, the vicar's post is vacant - and the Bishop of Ely has announced he's looking for a real life Sidney to take up the role.

The Archdeacon of Cambridge told ITV News Anglia that the new appointment won't be expected to double up as a detective!

The show is not just set in Grantchester, many of the scenes are filmed there too.

The village is dressed up to transport viewers back to the 1950s, when the story is set. Many of the villagers put on costumes and play extras, whilst some of them also vacate their homes so they can be used as part of the set.

Locals we spoke to said the village needed someone like James Norton for the role, because he was 'nice and engaging'.

James Norton and Robson Green in ITV drama Grantchester Credit: ITV

For the first time the new vicar at Grantchester will also be responsible for St Mark's Church in Newnham, a couple of miles up the river.

The Diocese of Ely hopes to have made its appointment by Christmas, and have a new vicar in post by the time Sidney Chambers returns to our screens next year.