The Swiss city of Solothurn has successfully appointed a new hermit.

Swiss newspaper Blick reports Michael Daum, a divorced ex-policeman from Southern Germany, will start his role on Saturday after beating 22 other candidates to the post.

Daum, who, since leaving the force, has studied Catholic theology and the meditation practices of monks, will act as caretaker for the hermitage and nearby St Martin’s Chapel located in the Verena gorge just outside Solothurn, continuing a tradition dating back to 1442.

He follows in the footsteps of St Verena, believed to have lived as a hermit in the area in the third century.