Figures reveal number of same-sex marriages
MORE than 350 couples from Runcorn and Widnes tied the knot according to the latest figures.
The Office For National Statistics (ONS) has released figures for the number of marriages in England and Wales in 2014.
The figures shows that there were 375 marriages in the borough, of which 366 involved opposite sex couples.
There were a further eight marriages between two women, with one involving two men.
Marriages of same-sex couples have only been possible since March 29, 2014.
Overall across both England and Wales according to the ONS there were more than 247,300 marriages between opposite sex couples in 2014, an increase of 2.7% from 2013, but 6.2% lower than in 2012.
Over the year, there were 4,850 marriages between same-sex couples.
In December 2014, more than 2,400 same-sex couples converted their civil partnership into a marriage.
Nicola Haines, from the ONS’s vital statistics outputs branch, said: “The number of marriages of opposite sex ● couples increased by 2.7% in 2014, but this followed a drop of 8.6% in 2013.
“Following the introduction of marriages of same-sex couples in March 2014, one in 46 marriages that year were between same sex couples.”