A GAY couple who were "married" in their pub The Queens had their ceremony blessed by a Methodist minister -- although his church does not allow it.

Guests, who said the Methodist minister was dressed in a clerical collar but refused to name him, wept as Ray and Jimmi Holden exchanged vows and rings.

Secretary of the Methodist Conference the Rev Doctor Nigel Collinson said today: "The law of the land does not permit the marriage of two people of the same sex and the policy of the Methodist Church does not include the blessing of gay unions."

A spokeswoman for the conference said that if anyone felt a standing order of the Methodist Church had been broken they could make a complaint. She said there was no specific standing order which bans Methodist ministers from blessing the marriage of same sex couples but there was one which "encompassed it."

Ray, 40 and Jimmi, 26, who changed his name by deed poll from Ferguson, are joint licensees of The Queens Hotel, Eastgate, Accrington, where they were 'married' yesterday.

They exchanged white gold rings and plan to go on honeymoon to Mexico in two months.

Ray said: "This is definitely the happiest day of my life. "We have known each other for around three years through the pub trade but we got together at Christmas. He had split up with his ex-partner and I had split up with mine. We weren't really looking for anyone but our friendship developed into something more.

"I proposed to him when we were at Funny Girls in Blackpool. I heard him saying to someone that I wouldn't get married so I just said to him that I would marry him tomorrow.

"I am the happiest man in the world without question.

"The ceremony was blessed by a Methodist minister but we are not naming him because he doesn't want any bad publicity."

Jimmi, a former landlord of the Duke of Wellington in Abbey Street and manager of the town's Imperial Hotel, had his name changed by deed poll from Ferguson.

He said: "We are both totally in love. I am not the marrying type but when Ray said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me it seemed right.

"The service which was held in the pub went really well."