You would be forgiven for confusing a church service with Noah’s Ark at the special pet service being held in South Woodford today.

Holy Trinity Church in Hermon Hill will fling open its doors to all manner of beasts including rabbits, goldfish, hamsters and of course cats and dogs.

Fr Robert Hampson said: “We are going to have a storm of animals.

“We’ve had a rabbit in the past, the dogs found the rabbit very interesting and its owner decided, for the sake of his marriage and his children, to leave the service early.”

The service, at 10am, is part of the Woodford Festival which starts today.

Mr Hampson said: “Animals are part of God’s kingdom, they don’t share in human sentiments, there’s something very beautiful in the way animals keep within the boundaries that are set which human beings cross.”

The pet service started about six years ago and was created as the festival fell on October 4, the day of St Francis of Assisi the patron saint of animals.

“A large number of people support it and they enjoy it, it’s been successful,” added Mr Hampson. “It’s a lovely thing to have. There’s one in the extreme east of Essex where people bring horses and all sorts of weird and wonderful things.”