AS COMMISSIONER of the Metropolitan Police, Ian Blair was in charge of keeping celebrities, Royals and millions of Londoners safe.

Now the former top cop has taken on another tough challenge – protecting Oxford’s historic Christ Church.

Since his resignation in 2008, Lord Blair has spoken about his Christian beliefs, and has just taken up a new role at his former college making sure the cathedral does not fall into disrepair.

Many of the 300,000 visitors every year are attracted by the college’s links with Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland. Hogwarts scenes for the Harry Potter movies were also filmed in the dining hall.

Lord Blair has agreed to be chairman of the newly formed Fabric Advisory Committee (FAC), which oversees the upkeep of the cathedral off St Aldate’s.

The new body has already bought new chairs because the old ones could not be stacked and were being pushed against the walls by visitors.

Lord Blair said: “As a former Met Commissioner, I never thought I would be in charge of looking after the brickwork of Christ Church, but as a graduate of the college, I am delighted to be asked to do this.

“One of the great challenges is to deal with the large number of visitors coming into what is quite a small space.

“As cathedrals go, it’s pretty small, and it can be quite difficult to determine which parts of the building are part of the cathedral and which parts are actually part of the college.

“There is imperceptible wear and tear and we have already changed the seating so that there’s more space for people walking through.

“The committee approves repairs to stained glass windows and there are listed outbuildings which also need to be improved.”

Lord Blair said his favourite part of the cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century, was the rose window.

The Rev Canon Edmund Newell, sub-dean of Christ Church, said “We get nowhere near as many visitors as Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral but Christ Church must be the most visited Oxford college.

“People pay about £7 to visit the college and some of that money helps to pay for the upkeep of the cathedral.”

He said recent changes in the law required the committee to be formed.

Canon Newell added: “Forming the committee brings us in line with every other cathedral in the Church of England.

“Each FAC is answerable to the Cathedral Fabric Commission for England and includes people with expertise in architecture, planning, archaeology and art.

“They provide advice to the Cathedral’s Chapter – its governing body – on issues the chapter raises.”