A baby has been baptised at a York church with a piece of broken copper piping.

The Rev Martin Baldock, vicar of St Edward the Confessor Church, in Dringhouses, said thought it would be “fun and memorable” to use the piece of piping that baby Izabella’s father, Craig Middleton, had replaced in the church on the day before Christmas Eve.

Mr Baldock said: “When we called out our plumbers, Byfield Heating, to have a look at a burst pipe before Christmas, I had no thought it would lead to a baptism.

“But when Craig asked me if he could have his baby baptised here, I said yes straight away.”

Mr Middleton said: “I got a call to come and fix a burst pipe at St Edward the Confessor Church, in Dringhouses. My partner Emma and I were looking for a church to baptise Izabella, and St Edward’s seemed perfect.”