Police gatecrash bogus wedding

A bogus wedding was halted when police burst into a register office minutes before the ceremony was about to begin.

The groom and six guests are being investigated for immigration offences after the raid on Kingston Register Office.

It is the latest sham wedding to be halted and comes after registrars demanded more powers to stop ceremonies that they suspect are being held to help the bride or groom stay in Britain, though by registrars to be as many as 15,000 a year.

The bride, a French citizen, was allowed to go free because her papers were in order.

But her Nigerian husband-to-be, who claimed to be an asylum seeker, was detained for further investigation and possible deportation.

Immigration officers launched the raid after a tip-off from another London borough where the bride and groom claimed to live.