A BRIDEGROOM was arrested in a register office just minutes before he was due to marry.

James Reid, wanted on warrants for burglary and forgery, was handcuffed, taken to a police car outside the office at Brighton Town Hall, and driven to the John Street police cells.

His tearful fiancee Donna Marsh said she pleaded with officers to wait until the ceremony was over but they refused.

Miss Marsh, 20, was left standing in her long, white, silk dress and holding the two gold rings she and Mr Reid were about to exchange.

Miss Marsh, who later retrieved her £35.50 marriage fee, said she is

now planning legal action against

the police, claiming: "They are not

allowed to interrupt a wedding service."

The couple, who lived in Sillwood Place, Brighton, were waiting for the arrival of witnesses when detectives arrived.

The couple had planned to follow their wedding with a reception for dozens of friends and family members at the King and Queen pub in Brighton. The event was cancelled after the drama.

Miss Marsh said: "I asked them to wait but they said 'no'. They would not even let me kiss him goodbye."

Police deny they were asked to wait until the marriage ceremony had taken place. Det Con Clinton Novelle said: "There were no requests to wait. We are not inhuman and we do have a job to do. Mr Reid himself said he accepted we were only doing our job."

Mr Reid, a 30-year-old Brighton dustman, was arrested on warrants issued in Scotland and London.

The couple have been together for eight months and Miss Marsh believes she is in the early days of pregnancy and is carrying Mr Reid's child.

She said: "I love him to bits and just want to be married to him. I was absolutely devastated when they took him away and was up all that night crying. I have not been able to eat since.

"I have no idea when I will see him again."

Police said Mr Reid had been taken to London and may then be moved to Scotland to answer the charges.

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