MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish judge ordered on Friday that a British priest be extradited back to England to face charges of sexually assaulting choirboys, a judicial source said.

The 85-year-old is wanted by British authorities on 16 charges of sexual assault, 10 of them "serious" and one involving attempted sodomy, against choirboys, the source told reporters.

The source did not name the suspect but said the alleged crimes were against choirboys in Derbyshire, central England.

The priest was arrested on Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands, and went before the High Court in Madrid where he consented to be handed over to the British authorities, the source said.

Judge Eloy Velasco then ordered the priest's extradition, for which no date has yet been fixed.