A CHURCH official fought off a man armed with a knife who attacked him inside Blackburn Cathedral.

Head verger Howard Waddell, 45, was checking the interior of the cathedral at 5pm yesterday before locking up when he came face to face with the man.

And today the Cathedral's Canon Sacrit, Canon Andrew Hindley, spoke of the "extremely frightening experience" and problems faced by church workers in and around the building.

Mr Waddell, who is charge of security and the day to day management of the cathedral, disarmed the man before alerting the police on his mobile phone.

The attacker, who is thought was drunk, was asked to leave the cathedral but refused and then produced the knife.

Police said a short struggle took place between the two men.

Canon Hindley said: "This was an extremely frightening experience for Mr Waddell who was just going about his normal business.

"He was closing the Cathedral at the end of the day and the man became aggressive when he was asked to leave."

Canon Hindley added: "There is a problem with people drinking in the Boulevard area and we have a zero tolerance policy towards alcohol in the cathedral grounds.

"We try to be compassionate and understanding towards people with problems but Blackburn Cathedral is a public building open to everyone who wants to come along.

"But a situation like this makes you realise how vulnerable our staff are."

A 41-year-old local man has been arrested and was being questioned by detectives at Blackburn police station today.

Picture: Canon Andrew Hindley at the scene of the attack in the cathedral and (left) verger Howard Waddell.