THEY have married hundreds of people but on Saturday it was finally the turn of two Burnley vicars - as they were the bride and groom.

And Rev Rachel Simper and Rev Ian Watts will now take up posts in nextdoor parishes St James, Briercliffe, and St Cuthbert's.

But first there was the small matter of a wedding to go to where, for once, neither would be left standing at the altar. The happy couple were married in St Luke's, in Slyne with Hest, where Rachel is currently installed, by the Bishop of Lancaster.

Ian is currently priest-in-charge of St Mary, in Newton-in-Mottram, Cheshire.

The pair were to jet off on honeymoon to Morocco. Rachel said: "Morocco's somewhere I've always wanted to go. I worked in Africa and the Middle East.

"Ian kept saying he didn't want to go and then he booked it. It's a lovely place to go and very interesting."

The couple, who met through friends just after Easter last year, will have one last Sunday in their parishes before the move to East Lancashire. Rachel said they are looking forward to no longer being a long-distance couple.

Rachel added: "It will be nice to be in the same place."

"We'll be sad to leave our parishes and we didn't want the wedding tinged with sadness. But we are looking forward to the move."

Rachel and Ian will be in Briercliffe vicarage from November 8 and start their ministry on November 21.