A RELIGIOUS service with a difference has been promised in Newcastle on New Year's Eve.

The Reverend Kit Widdows, of St Thomas the Martyr Church, said he would preach something for all faiths as he delivers his message from the Haymarket stage at 5.40pm on Sunday, December 31.

He said: "The service will be appropriate for all faiths, and not just the Christian one.

"The 10 to 15-minute service will be something dramatic, probably accompanied by a few thousands candles in the audience.

"What we don't want, however, is a lot of holy men saying various things."

After midnight, Mr Widdows will perform a Christian service at about 1.05am in St Thomas'