Bride and groom are hand-cuffed at the altar

A bride and groom were being questioned tonight after being arrested at the altar on suspicion of staging a sham marriage, investigators said.

The couple, plus three others, were handcuffed at the start of a noon ceremony at St John's Church in Tilbury, Essex, said UK Border Agency officials.

Police said all five were being held on suspicion of breaching immigration laws.

A police spokesman said the bride was a 28-year-old Dutch woman from Rotterdam. Sources said the four others were from Nigeria and in their 30s.

Investigators said the arrests were the culmination of an operation planned for weeks.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said officers emerged from a back room at the church and the vicar conducting the ceremony was aware of the investigation.

"Officers from a specialist immigration crime team stopped the wedding," said the spokesman.

"The Nigerian groom and Dutch bride were put in handcuffs at the altar, while two witnesses - a Nigerian man and woman - were also arrested."

Police said: "A 31-year-old woman from Tilbury, a 38-year-old man from Tilbury, a 32-year-old man from Tilbury, a 35-year-old man from London, plus the bride, were being questioned."

A spokesman said all five were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences, and the 35-year-old man was also held on suspicion of trying to escape from police custody.