Marriage cop-outs cause fee hike

8.16.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 2nd Jul 2010

Wiltshire Council is to increase fees for Citizenship ceremonies and introduce reservation charges for couples wanting to use the registration offices at Chippenham, Salisbury and Devizes.

The council says it needs to increase the fees to compensate for a drop in income, and that the non-refundable reservation charge is necessary because of the increasing number of couples who book the office but then don't turn up.

The cost of a Private Citizenship ceremony will go up to £60 from £42, and the reservation fee for marriages and civil partnership ceremonies will be set at £30, in addition to the marriage fee of £42.50.

The reservation fee won't apply at the County Registry Office in Trowbridge.

The effect of the charges will be to give the cash-strapped council an extra £14,000 to help balance its books.