WEDDING BELLS were ringing in the Southampton mayor's parlour yesterday as the city's first citizen Councillor Parvin Damani tied the knot.

Cllr Damani, 53, was believed to be the first mayor in the United Kingdom to get married in a mayor's parlour.

She married her long-term partner Amirali Damani, 65, who she originally married in Kenya.

But because the Kenyan ceremony is not legally recognised in Britain, Councillor Damani and Amirali had to exchange their vows again.

This time it was in front of a host of mayors and mayoresses from across Hampshire, who watched the civil ceremony conducted in the splendour of the mayor's reception room.

Councillor Damani said: "It is very exciting and we are also making history."

The mayor, who arrived in style in a Rolls Royce, looked resplendent in a crimson traditional costume. She was accompanied by her seven-year-old grandson Ramzan Bilal, who gave her away.

Instead of the traditional wedding march, the bride stepped into the parlour to the sounds of Louis Armstrong's classic What A Wonderful World.

After the vows Amirali kissed his bride to set the seal on what was a wonderful day in Southampton's mayoral history.