Radlett and Bushey Reform has taken on a multi-national player as its new associate minister and youth director.

Rabbi Celia Surget is expected to take up the post in November, replacing Rabbi David Mitchell, who is joining the rabbinic team at West London Synagogue.

The 33-year-old has a French father and an American mother.

She was born and raised in Geneva, where she studied religion and philosophy. She began her rabbinic studies at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and continued them in New York, before transferring to London's Leo Baeck College, where she was ordained in 2007.

She joined the rabbinic team at the Mouvement Juif Liberal de France, the Reform synagogue in Paris, becoming France's second woman rabbi. As well as heading its 350-strong cheder, she was instrumental in the creation and development of the Reform youth movement, Netzer France.

Radlett and Bushey chair Robert Wiltshire said the appointment was part of "a very exciting time for RBRS as we celebrate our 40th anniversary. We look forward to continued growth with our new rabbinic team", led by Rabbi Paul Freedman.