WEDDING fever has gripped the Lib Dem group at Swindon Council, with members tying the knot in two ceremonies at Swindon Register Office this year.

Andy Harrison, 48, who has been a Penhill councillor for just over five years, married his partner Sue Beeston, 50, in front of friends and family on January 28.

Their wedding was attended by partners Dave Wood and Nicky Sewell, both 30 and councillors for Eastcott, who wed in a surprise ceremony on February 4.

Both ceremonies took place in a room at the Civic Offices which was once committee room six, where all three councillors previously took part in many debates.

The weddings mean all four members of the group, led by Coun Stan Pajak, are now married. Dave said: “There are four members and three got married within seven days. It’s a bit bizarre.

“We were trying to decide between the two weeks. It was good luck we went for the weekend afterwards because we didn’t know Andy was getting married.

“Andy, as far as I know, doesn’t know we got married because he is still on his honeymoon.

“We just told parents and grandparents before the day.”

There are only a few couples who are both borough councillors in Swindon, and this is thought to be the first time for decades, if ever, that serving councillors in Swindon have married.

Dave said the politics does not get in the way of the relationship but presents its challenges.

He said: “It’s difficult in not seeing as much of one another as other couples would because we’re on different committees, so we’re out on different nights.

“And we don’t agree on all the issues, so we’re very much like any other members of the group. We have to separate the political and the personal.”

Dave and Nicky met as students at the University of Plymouth, when he was studying psychology and politics, and she was studying psychology.

On the wedding day, the couple, who live at Kingshill, invited friends to their combined 30th birthday party and ten-year anniversary of being together.

When the guests arrived, they were greeted by a video message telling them they had been married that day. They were then invited to a blessing at Lydiard House before a party at the Hilton Hotel.

The blessing was conducted by the Rev Lionel Fanthorpe, a friend of the couple and veteran of TV and radio.

Nicky said: “We didn’t want the pressure that normally comes with wedding so we decided to only tell parents and grandparents. We did it very our way and were pleased we did.”

The blessing and reception were nearly derailed as weather warnings meant many parts of the country were at a standstill.

But guests still travelled from Nicky’s home of Jersey in the Channel Isles and Dave’s birthplace of the Isle of Skye, in the Hebrides. They will honeymoon is Romania in May.