EXPERTS claim there are more than a million singletons living in London today. And one of those is South Woodford vicar Robert Hampson, whose new year resolution for 2008 is to find himself a wife.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, The Guardian has therefore decided to help the Rev Hampson in his quest to find ‘The One’.

He is one of the borough’s most eligible bachelors - but has yet to see his own bride-to-be walk down the aisle.

The dashing 6ft Essex boy, of the Holy Trinity Church in Hermon Hill, claims he learned a lot about women and “acquired a healthy respect for the fairer sex” when growing up in Upminster with his three sisters.

However, his passion for study and learning means he spends more time reading than chatting up women - which is where the Guardian comes in.

Over the next few weeks we will be appealing for single women across Redbridge to email or call us if they think Robert might be the man for them.

And in a month’s time, we will treat three lucky ladies to a dinner date with the ravishing reverend, (individually of course), to see if they are a love match.

He said: “There has got to be a common value base. When I marry people, I always ask the couples what values the want their children to have, and they always come down to their real values.

“She does not necessarily have to be the same faith, but she would have to have a deep appreciation for the religious search and a deep attachment to the religious search, because that is central to me. I’d also have to fancy her!”

Robert studied Politics at LSE before doing a philosophy degree and going on to teach philosophy at the University of London’s Heythrope College and the Thurrock Adult Education Centre.

For him, understanding the purpose of life has been the subject dearest to his heart, and as that sense of searching found its home in the Christian faith, it was a natural choice for him to follow the path of a vicar.

He said: “Perhaps that is why it has been so difficult for me to find someone. I have been married to my learning; that has been my most lasting relationship.”

Of his ideal partner, he said: “I would like her to love people. I would like her to be very fond of her family and in close contact with her family, because that shows she has got good roots.

“I would also like her to be compassionate towards people, particularly people who are different from her.”

Although the vicar’s job keeps him busy with visitors, church function and community work, he admits he hates being on his own and longs for a wife and children.

He added: “She does not have to have an interest in the same things as me, but I think you do need to have an interest. I haven’t got a television, so I don’t really have an interest in celebrity culture, and the only news I read is the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian and the BBC website.

“Humour is very important - and joy - a joy that includes everybody. The big, big qualities I look for in a partner is someone you can laugh with and be silly with. I like being silly.