SOLDIER Arron Whitney came home from Bosnia to marry his sweetheart, Cathrine Tickle.

Arron, 22, is serving with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, as part of the peace-keeping force.

The lance corporal from Briercliffe has the tricky job of spotting and helping to make safe the thousands of mines left behind in the wake of the civil war.

Arron was given two weeks' leave to marry Cathrine, 23, who lives in Burnley and is a nurse at Burnley General Hospital.

Cathrine, who arrived for the wedding ceremony at St James' Church, Briercliffe, in a vintage Rolls-Royce, is the daughter of Mr Rodney Tickle and the late Mrs Pamela Tickle.

The couple - forced to postpone their honeymoon because Arron's plane was delayed - plan to travel to Disneyland Paris before he begins his next posting which is to Northern Ireland. Arron said: "Bosnia is not as bad as it used to be because of the ceasefire, but you still have to be on the lookout for land mines.

"We are not fighting anyone. We are just there to protect the people."

The Whitneys, who met when they were teenagers, decided to get married two years ago, before Arron was posted to Bosnia.

Arron, the son of Mr and Mrs Derek Whitney, added: "I got two weeks' leave and I was supposed to be coming home on the Tuesday before the wedding.

"Because the planes were delayed, I didn't make it home until the Thursday and everyone was starting to get a bit nervous at home."

After the wedding, at which bridesmaids were Samantha Day, Claire Nolan, Lisa Evans and Lora Speak and Ivan Whitney was best man, a reception was held at Mytton Fold Farm, Langho.

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