The 45-year-old, who lives at The Rectory, adjacent to the historic 11th century St Peter's Church, passed his test in the summer and enjoys riding along Rutland's country lanes, although he still uses his car on some occasions.

"It does raise a few eyebrows when the leathers come off and I have a dog collar underneath," said Mr Angell. "I don't suppose it is that common to see a vicar arrive on a motorbike."

Committed as he is to the church, the job is only part-time. The role was downsized before he arrived so Mr Angell spends the rest of his working week as a self-employed engineer and handyman. It can be confusing to some of his customers who do a double take when they realise he is also their local man of the cloth.

"Some people haven't worked out my role in the community – whether I am the parish priest or the plumber," said Mr Angell, who hails from Middlesbrough.

"I've not advertised my other business but one or two people have found out and asked me to do the odd job."

This, of course, is the busiest time of the year for anyone in the clergy. It all started, in earnest, when Mr Angell and his wife Tessa organised a gathering on Friday with mulled wine and mince pies for parishioners.

Sunday featured a carol service at Duddington and crib services at Morcott and South Luffenham.

Today (Christmas Eve) there are services at Duddington and Morcott and a midnight mass, which alternates every year between Barrowden and South Luffenham.

On Christmas Day morning, Mr Angell will officiate at a traditional Christmas service at Tixover and a family communion service at Barrowden.

He can then enjoy the festivities at home with Tessa and their children, 16-year-old Fred and Molly (13).

Mr Angell said: "You feel as though as you have stepped on a rollercoaster at the start of Christmas but it is great stuff. It's a fantastic time to be in a group of parishes."

It was a fairly radical career change for Mr Angell when he decided to become a vicar at the age of 36. Before that he worked as an electronics engineer, servicing medical equipment at Leicester General Hospital.

He was ordained at Peterborough Cathedral and took up his first curacy at Daventry in Northamptonshire.

Three years later Mr Angell moved to Rutland to become parish priest for Langham, Ashwell and Market Overton.

His relocation to his present job came just over a year ago, a baptism of fire with the busy Christmas services just around the corner.

"As a kid I was packed off to Sunday school like everyone else but it just fizzled out after that and I had no contact with the church," recalled Mr Angell.

"When I was 19 I got involved in the church in Middlesbrough and that's how it started for me. It was a big career change when I decided to become a vicar. Since leaving school I had always worked in a technical role. It was a difficult decision to leave the tools behind. The beauty of this job, with it being part-time, is it gives me the opportunity to get the toolbox out again."

Mr Angell feels honoured to be part of events which are so important to people. "Taking funerals, weddings and Christenings is one of the more rewarding aspects of the job. Welcoming people to church at key moments in their lives, some happy and some sad, is a huge privilege," he said.

There have been some humorous moments in his fledgling career in the clergy. Like the occasion he mistakenly left his mobile phone switched on before a funeral.

"Just as I was about to go outside the crematorium to greet the family and the mourners the satellite navigation on the phone piped up," recalled Mr Angell.

"The command 'now make a legal U-turn' rang out. If it had happened a couple of seconds later it would have been very embarrassing."

The credit crunch is affecting the church, as it is every other walk of life. Fundraising is even more essential with diocese funds falling and bills to pay for the maintenance of churches, as well heating and lighting.

Mr Angell, who said congregations were healthy in his group of parishes, with plenty of young people involved, senses he will have a growing counselling role to play in the community with the progressive downturn in the economy.

"As I said in my sermon the other week, people are experiencing concerns about their job, their pensions or their investments," he said.

"I also touched on this in my Christmas message in the parish magazine. One of the important things in a caring community is how we look out for our neighbours."

The church has a serious role to play in the community but Mr Angell is a friendly face and clearly someone who loves dealing with people, unlike some of his stuffier fellow parish priests.

He is a fan of the television comedy The Vicar of Dibley, which stars Dawn French as a rural vicar.

He added: "Occasionally I see similar, quirky characters from the programme in my own job. It makes you laugh at yourself which is important because I try to avoid taking myself too seriously."