A young female vicar has seen the attendance of her village church more than double since taking over as curate six months ago.

St Mary the Virgin in Caterham has seen average attendances hit more than 150 after the arrival of Stephanie Nadarajah, who gave up a high-flying job as an NHS manager to take on the role as curate.

The blonde 29-year-old has become a firm favourite with churchgoers in the village, stopping to chat with them as she strides through the streets of Caterham in her dog collar.

The Rev Nadarajah, who has a degree in theology from Cambridge University, has seen the pews begin to refill with worshippers after years of diminishing attendances.

She said: “You’re always treading a fine line between using the person that you are, and what God has given you to do good things in his name – and not to attract all the attention yourself and for it to become a sort of personality cult.”

Church attendance nationally has fallen for six years in a row, with the average Sunday visits down to 944,000 in the last figures released in 2009.

Despite the continued decline, donations to parish churches has increased in real terms each year - a situation being mirrored at St Mary’s, where the £80,000 fund for a new church hall is beginning to rise.

The Rev Nadarajah said: “The first time I walked down the street in Caterham in a dog collar I was so embarrassed.

“I thought if anyone spoke to me I would just hand it over and say ‘You’re right, I’m not who I claim to be – I picked it out of the wardrobe’.

“But if people look and say ‘Goodness me, that’s not what I expected,’ and listen to what I say, then that’s great.”