THE water was cold but the feeling was warm when half-a-dozen people took the plunge for Christianity.

The Archbishop of York performed his now-traditional open-air Easter baptisms on the steps of York Minster at the weekend.

Half-a-dozen people took part in the total immersion ceremony, watched by hundreds of onlookers who had gathered for the annual event.

The Archbishop, Dr John Sentamu, stood in the tank with the candidates and found the water was “much warmer than usual” – but not all the participants agreed.

One, Christopher Pillai, said: "When I first went in it was absolutely freezing and I thought 'this may not end well'."

And his brother Christian Pillai said: "The hardest thing I've ever had to do is to get up from there and smile at everyone."

Five people had originally been planned to be baptised until an onlooker and member of the church's Never Give Up homeless group became the sixth when he asked to be included.

So John Youll, 47, from York, was also baptised by Dr Sentamu, who said to the crowd: "I'm quite glad one of our friends came off the street. He wants to come back to Jesus... You are going to be a new man."

This was the ninth year the Archbishop carried out the open-air baptisms and, although he admitted it had been cold, he called it a “joyful day.”

The service was organised by One Voice York, a network of Christian churches and leaders of different denominations working together across the city.