Gay 'weddings' top 15,500 in UK

More than 15,500 gay and lesbian couples united in civil partnerships in the first nine months after new laws were brought in the UK.

There were 15,672 partnerships between December 2005 and September 2006, the Office for National Statistics said.

There were 14,084 partnerships in England, 537 in Wales, 942 in Scotland and 109 in Northern Ireland.

Almost 2,000 partnerships took place last December when the Civil Partnership Act 2004 came into force. the rest