THE Reverend Jamie Allen, the star of TV show A Country Parish, has been signed up for a second series after the first drew audiences of more than three million.

The rector has been inundated with letters, e-mails and telephone calls from people who have watched him in the docusoap.

Mr Allen took over as the rector of Seend, Bulkington and Poulshot in April 2002, and BBC2 cameras followed him around for almost a year.

Mr Allen, 32, who is married with three children, was initially nervous about becoming a celebrity, but has been heartened by the response of the public and has agreed to do another series.

He said: "There has been a huge national response to the programme. People have written, phoned and e-mailed both myself and the BBC, often movingly about how the programme has led them to think about their own spiritual life."

The BBC keeps the identity of Mr Allen's parishes a secret in the programme, but determined viewers have got letters through to Mr Allen by addressing them: A Country Parish, Wiltshire.

Due to the response, the BBC has set up a website as part of the BBC's website www.bbc.co.uk/countryparish where people can leave messages and e-mail Mr Allen.

Mr Allen said: "I have had hundreds of letters sent to me. The postbag is huge. I am amazed at the response and the way the programme has caught people's imagination. I was nervous about doing the programme because I was new in the parish but also because I wasn't sure if it would catch on.

"I thought the only people watching it would be me and my dog, and cringing while we were doing so."

As well as the public Mr Allen has received positive feedback from members of the clergy about the series.

Mr Allen said: "Members of the clergy from all over the country have written to me to say more people have been going to church as a result of the programme.

"That's also happened in my parish and I think the programme has kind of broken the ice for people who were perhaps a little reluctant to go to church."

Alan Bookbinder, BBC head of religion and ethics, said: "The portrayal of parish life in rural Wiltshire has charmed millions of viewers every week."