SHE broke her elbow after slipping when she came to attend her interview last year, was almost wiped out by a falling tree that smashed her car in mid-June near Broad Campden and this week has been turfed out of her vicarage while BBC One period drama Father Brown is being filmed.

But Reverend Dana Delap, the vicar of Blockley - affectionately called the Vicar of Dibley among villagers - chuckles and says she feels blessed.

Ms Delap, married to fundraising consultant Adrian Beney and mother to Brigid, 21, Miles, 19, and Hugh, 13, said she settled into life in Blockley immediately.

"It is the most beautiful area with the most wonderful views and very friendly people. I have made many new friends and my youngest son, Hugh, has settled at his school at Chipping Campden.

And she says she has got used to losing her home frequently when the BBC rolls up to start filming,

"Even the dog has to go and sit in the car," she mused.

Ms Delap came to Blockley in August last year. It was her first placement as a vicar and the first female vicar for the parishes of Blockley and Bourton on the Hill, which gives her an added spring in her step.

Born in Carnforth, Lancashire, she worked around the North East as a curate and was for eight years a prison chaplain.

She completed a theology degree in the 1980s and that an MA in social science. In 2009 she attended Durham university and completed an MA in theology and leadership. She was ordained as a priest four years ago.

"I was originally looking at Lincolnshire for a placement and one day the Bishop of Gloucester Michael Perham got in touch and said have you ever thought of Gloucestershire?"

She hadn't, but is so glad she did.

Two days of interviews with a painfully broken elbow found her and her family in a diocese where she feels completely at home and regularly has between 40 and parishioners to Sunday service.

"It is a much more affluent area than I have come from, but there are still people who need help. There are food banks down here," she said.

And she says her church is open to everyone whether they are religious or not because her ethos is that the church is not there just for her or worshippers but for everyone.

"I don't take myself or the church too seriously, but I do, God. When I come into church each morning to say my prayers I am thankful.

"After the tree fell on the car as I was taking Hugh to school and to take a soul space class, I was shaken. I had a bruised eye and Hugh had glass in his - he is alright now - but I felt it was an opportunity to feel thankful for all I had. I love being part of a community, love having people round to the vicarage for cake and love being able to walk the land. I feel like I have been very blessed."