ROSSENDALE bride Julie Killelea was marrying England and Manchester United soccer star Phil Neville today in a celebrity-studded ceremony at a Rawtenstall church.

Julie, 24, of Chapel Hill, Rawtenstall, has been dating Phil, 22, for more than two years and was due to be married at St James the Less RC Church in Burnley Road at 1pm.

Among guests expected to attend the service and the reception at a five-star hotel were Phil's fellow Manchester United team-mates and their partners, including David Beckham and Posh Spice Victoria Adams.

A covered walkway was erected between the road and church to allow the couple and their guests to take their places without being photographed or spotted by onlookers, as the couple are believed to have signed a six-figure deal with celebrity magazine OK! for the rights to publish pictures from the day.

A private security team was also in place.

Local residents were instructed to remove their cars from the stretch of Burnley Road surrounding the church between 6am and 3pm today while road restrictions and crowd-control barriers were in place.

No waiting cones were also placed along the road, as well as on nearby Alexandria Street and Prospect Road, while the junctions with Elm Street and Hobson Street were also affected.

James Lord, who lives directly across from the church, said he was planning to watch the proceedings from his window and video the event on a camcorder. He went on: "It's almost like a Royal wedding, I suppose, and there's certainly been a lot of hype surrounding it.

"I will be watching and I've had my orders from my family - they're all coming round to watch too.

"I'm going to video the whole thing. I just hope we can see something, because it doesn't look like we will."

Neighbour William Critchley said he wouldn't be watching.

"It's all a bit of an inconvenience really. I'm disabled and I think it is ridiculous that I have to move my car and can't park it outside all day.

"I hope they have a good day though because they have to get married somewhere."

Further up the road, Manchester United fan Alex Fletcher, a fireman based in Darwen, said he was hoping to see some of his heroes arriving at church.

He went on: "The parking thing is a little bit inconvenient but I'll certainly be watching and a few of my friends are coming round too.

"Hopefully we will be able to see because things like this don't happen every day around here."

The couple were due to wed in front of dozens of family and friends after Phil proposed during a romantic Valentine's Day meal earlier this year.

Julie's sister, Lancashire Evening Telegraph reporter Amanda Killelea, Phil's sister Tracy, and Julie's schoolfriend Tara Bezboruah were bridesmaids while the bridegroom chose two best men for the day - Reading striker Grant Brebner and Dave Gardner, who plays semi-professional football for Morecambe.

Julie, a company secretary in the family's Crawshawbooth-based construction firm, is a former pupil of St James the Less RC Primary School and St Hilda's RC School, Burnley.

The couple will live in Crawshawbooth.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.