NEW British citizens were sworn in at Southampton's Civic Centre at the first ceremony of its kind in the city.

Ten new citizens from all corners of the globe made their pledge to Queen and country at the ceremony in the presence of Southampton mayor Parvin Damani and the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire Mary Fagan.

The youngest new citizen was seven-year-old Mikthad Rahman who, with his dad, received a certificate of citizenship to show he was now a British citizen.

His proud dad Bazlur Rahman, originally from Bangladesh, said: "It has been a very happy day. It is nice having my family here. My son enjoyed getting his certificate too. It means a lot to us to be citizens."

Each of the citizens took the oath or swore allegiance to the Queen and pledged loyalty to the United Kingdom in the presence of their family and friends.

Conducting the ceremony in the Mayor's parlour at Southampton Civic Centre was superintendent registrar Francine Lawrence.

Councillor Damani said: "I have lived in Southampton all my life and I love it here. I hope that in making Southampton your home you are able to contribute to the community and in turn the community becomes more enriched because of you.

"I hope that you have many happy years here."

Among the new citizens were people from Zimbabwe, South Korea and Jamaica including Adegoke John, 32, originally from Nigeria and now living in Shirley.

He said: "I had a great opportunity to study here in Britain and now I work here. I want to be part of the country I work for. It is nice to be one of the first to be part of the ceremony."