THE DEAN of Lincoln Cathedral, Dr Alec Knight, has defended the Lincoln Chapter's decision to allow parts of The Da Vinci Code to be filmed at the cathedral in August. He said this week that the Chapter "had considered the issue very carefully" before agreeing.

Speaking on Tuesday, Dr Knight said that the Chapter had discussed different approaches to the bestselling novel by Dan Brown, which questions orthodox Christian belief.

He said that there were two main approaches: that the Christian faith should be protected by not entering into the type of debate raised by The Da Vinci Code; or to take the book as an opportunity to proclaim the truth of the gospel.

"We took the latter approach, and filming will take place in August in the nave, chapter house and cloister."

Dr Knight said that there had been little reaction locally to news of the film, which will star Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellen.

"We will see how it goes. But the world doesn't often give the Christian Church an opportunity on a plate to engage in speaking about the gospel and salvation of humankind, and, as a Church, we should do so, like St Paul in Athens."

He said that the cathedral would be receiving "a sizeable sum" for the filming.

Christian groups have strongly criticised the novel, which tells of a conspiracy about the true nature of the Holy Grail, and suggests that Jesus married Mary Magdalene to produce the Merovingian dynasty. The Vatican has appointed the Archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to lead a campaign to challenge the book's conspiracy theories.

Dr Knight said that he had read the book. He described it as "pure fiction but a jolly good read - the evidence is hardly evidence at all."

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