THE new Archbishop of York is planning a feeding of the 3,500 at his enthronement service in the Minster - courtesy of Marks & Spencer.

Dr John Sentamu - Britain's first black Archbishop - has arranged the store chain to supply every guest with a picnic bag to be eaten in the cathedral following the ceremony.

It is believed he came up with the idea because he did not want a select group of people being invited to a "posh lunch" while others were left out.

A spokesman for the Diocese of York confirmed every member of the congregation would be given a Marks & Spencer snack bag containing a vegetable wrap and a piece of fruit. The meal will be paid for by the diocese.

Church traditionalists have criticised the decision to acknowledge the store's food provision on the order of service as too commercial.

But the York diocese spokesman denied reports that the organisers of the service, the dean and chapter, were considering giving their consent to the company's logo appearing in the service handout.

"This is not a sponsorship, but Marks & Spencer are providing the food and have been very helpful. That will be acknowledged on the back of the order of service. There is nothing new in doing this."

The spokesman said the picnic bags were not being provided for free, and stressed that no money had been given to the church by Marks & Spencer.

"Whereas previous Archbishop inauguration services have been followed by a lunch invitation for selected guests, on this occasion he (Dr Sentamu) wanted a simple lunch to be enjoyed by the whole congregation," he said. "Any decision on the inclusion of the Marks & Spencer logo appearing in the order of service would belong to the dean and chapter, and no such consideration has been given.

A spokeswoman for Marks & Spencer, which trademarks its food as St Michael, said: "This is a normal customer order. We're doing picnic lunch bags for the inauguration ceremony at York Minster. We're delighted to be helping out with something that is so important to York."

Referring to claims that their logo would appear on the order of service, the spokeswoman said: "That is not the case. It's not something we've talked about."

Updated: 13:09 Monday, October 24, 2005