Bridal suite was a police station cell

DURING the Seventies, I was a traffic patrol police officer in oxfordshire. one night, my colleague and I were about an hour into our night shift, having started at 10pm. We were in a rural area when we came across a car on the side of the road. on investigating, we found a young couple huddled together on the back seat. They explained they had got married earlier that day and, following the reception, had left for their honeymoon, but had broken down. It was dark, they didn’t know where they were or how far it was to the nearest phone box or house. There were, of course, no mobile phones in those days. So they decided to sit it out until daylight before trying to get help. A car is not a comfortable place to spend the night and they were freezing cold. We offered to take them back to our police station several miles away, where they would at least be warm and dry. Then in the morning we could arrange for a garage to tow their car. They jumped at the chance and we drove them to the police station where they were treated to a cup of tea. Unusually, the four cells at the station did not have any ‘clients’ in residence. We suggested the couple might like to spend the night in a cell — it would be more comfortable than sitting in a chair for the rest of the night and they might be able to get a little sleep. We explained we would not lock the cell door or the iron grating leading to the cell passage. The couple readily accepted this offer. In the morning, as we were about to go off duty at 6am, we found the station duty officer taking the couple a cup of tea in bed. After all, it was their honeymoon. I’m sure dozens of couples have spent their honeymoons in truly exotic locations, but can anyone beat this one? I bet the couple are still dining out on their story and, call me an old romantic, I hope they have had a lovely married life. I still have a mental picture of a woman in a bridal gown behind the bars of a cell, with a policeman bringing her a cup of tea!