SALISBURY MP Robert Key is following in his family's ecclesiastical traditions.

He is to join the cathedral's college of lay canons, who will provide a valuable link between the church and community.

Mr Key moved to Salisbury in 1947 when he was two and his father, Maurice, became the Bishop of Sherborne.

He was educated at Salisbury Cathedral School, Sherborne School and was a choral exhibitioner at Clare College, Cambridge.

Mr Key serves on the ecclesiastical committee of Parliament and he is an elected member of the General Synod of the Church of England, representing Salisbury Diocese.