THE Archdeacon of York had a shock when he thought he was pictured on the front page of The Press - in our Crime Gallery.

The Venerable Richard Seed, who is also vicar of the Holy Trinity Church in Micklegate, couldn't believe his eyes when he spotted a CCTV image, which he believed was of him, under the headline "suspects caught on camera".

But it turned out to be someone who looked just like him - and was even wearing a jacket and jumper just like items he owns.

He said: "I was astonished. For a moment I went all hot and cold.

"I had been in town yesterday dressed just like that and I wondered if the CCTV footage had been somehow mixed up.

"He was wearing the same jacket and jumper - it was an unbelievable coincidence. But I had been given the jumper for Christmas and the CCTV was from September."

The archdeacon rang the police to find out what had happened.

He said: "They checked on the diocese website and compared my picture to the one from the CCTV and they said the person in that one was fatter then me. They have said it was obviously just a quirk.

"They confirmed the CCTV was from September 19, and asked me where I was on that date.

"I went through my diary and I wasn't in York. It's quite amusing now, but certainly at the time it was far from funny."

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman confirmed it was "a case of mistaken identity".