A petition against the Bill has been handed in to the government

Plans for civil partnership ceremonies in churches could result in some clergy being prosecuted, a former Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

In a letter to the Times newspaper, Lord Carey suggests ministers could face claims of discrimination if they fail to conduct the ceremonies.

Legislation for England and Wales, which also covers other places of worship, is part of the Equality Bill.

Supporters say ministers would not have to act against their conscience.

Lord Carey’s letter was prompted by Labour peer Lord Alli’s amendment to the bill to allow civil partnerships on religious premises.

The legislation had its third reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday and it will now go back to the Commons for final approval.

‘Clear distinction’

In his letter, Lord Carey says: “How long will it be before church ministers are threatened with legal proceedings if they perform marriages between a man and a woman, but not civil partnerships?”

If there is a genuine need for a change in the law this should be done properly by revisiting the Civil Partnerships Act Lord Carey

He says the amendment risked blurring the “clear distinction” between homosexual partnerships and heterosexual marriage.

Lord Carey says the plans were being “tacked on” to an existing bill “without a proper chance for scrutiny”.

“If there is a genuine need for a change in the law this should be done properly by revisiting the Civil Partnerships Act,” he writes.

Lord Carey’s intervention is not the first time he has spoken on the subject of civil partnerships.

This time, he is being supported by groups such as Christian Concern for our Nation, which on Tuesday handed in a 6,000 protest petition to the Equalities minister Harriet Harman.

It calls on the government to vote down the amendment because it threatens religious freedom.

Before the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005, Lord Carey told Christians not to be suspicious of the new legal entities, but insisted that they should not be the first step towards gay partnerships being classed as marriages.

Lord Alli has insisted that the proposals in his amendment are entirely voluntary, with ministers, rabbis or imams who object to homosexuality being able to legally refuse to conduct the ceremonies.

He is supported by other Church of England clergy, including the Bishop of Salisbury, and the leaders of Liberal Judaism and the Quakers, who say they want to help gay couples celebrate their unions.

Jane and Daniel Cluff donate blood up to three times a year

A couple from Oxfordshire surprised their wedding guests by throwing out the traditional wedding list and asking them to donate blood instead.

Daniel and Jane Cluff, both 35, from Abingdon, have never needed a blood transfusion themselves.

The pair have both donated blood since the age of 18 and thought it would be a good idea to encourage more people to sign up to the National Blood Service.

Twenty-five of their 120 guests agreed to donate blood.

‘Quite surprised’

As well as the invitations, guests had a chance to find out more about giving blood via an information board they made especially for the day.

“Some people were quite surprised,” said Mrs Cluff.

“A couple of friends said they’d been meaning to do it for ages it actually spurred them onto donate which was really good and hopefully they’ll continue doing so.”

Jonathan Sewell, lead donor relations manager for the National Blood Service, said: “A lot of people do tend to go for a big gift list at weddings these days, so for someone to turn round and be as generous as this is incredible.”

Mrs Cluff, a social worker, and Mr Cluff, an occupational therapist, married in the summer at Lains Barn near Wantage.

Seven thousand units of blood are needed every day to meet hospital demand. Last year 2.1 million donations were collected from about 1.6 million donors. That figure reflects only 4% of the eligible population, giving two or three times a year.

With some exceptions, many people aged between 17 and 65 can become a new blood donor.

The village won £500 in a BT competition for original use of a phone box

A village near Wells has made unusual use of an old phone box by converting it into possibly the country’s - if not the world’s - smallest mobile library.

As phone boxes are no longer used, BT gave Westbury-sub-Mendip the option of either having the box reinstalled, removed or they could buy it for £1.

The village opted for the latter and after a tea party was held, the idea to turn it into a library was decided on.

Bob Dolby from the parish council said he was thrilled with it.

He initially they did not know what to do with the phone box.

“The box looked empty, it looked a little bit sad and desolate,” he said.

The ‘ground floor’ of the library is for children’s books

When people found out that BT were holding a national competition for creative uses of the phone boxes, it gave them the incentive to search out ideas as to what could be done to convert the empty kiosk.

The only stipulation was it had to be useful to the community.

“Someone had the idea of converting the kiosk into a shower, but that was felt to be a little bit too public; it could have been used as an information point with a map of the village and the other thought was to convert it into a greenhouse but then one of my neighbours had a brilliant idea,” said Bob.

Resident Janet Fisher said: “At the tea party we were all mulling over the idea of what might happen to the phone box and I just had the idea that it could be a book exchange.

“We used to have a mobile library here which called once a week on a Monday, but that ceased a few months ago so it was missed and we’re all readers around here, have a reading group in the village.

“It just appealed; it certainly appealed to me.”

Indian brides’ families still pay dowries of up to £20,000 to some British men

Thousands of new brides in India are being abandoned by their British Asian husbands after they are married.

Despite this, there is evidence to suggest that Indian women are continuing to fall for British suitors.

In a dusty village in the Jagraon district of Punjab, northern India, 35-year-old Suman (which is not her real name), lives with her widowed mother in a small room in a crumbling building.

Four years ago, the secondary school teacher married a British man in a wedding arranged by relatives.

Shortly after the ceremony, her husband, who is in his 50s, left for London with the promise he would send for her. At first all appeared to go well.

“He would visit two to three times a year.

“Whenever he came to India, we had a good time,” she said.

However, on one visit he claimed her application for a spousal visa to the UK had been refused.

It was like being a prostitute you take along and have a good time with and then leave behind ‘Suman’, 35

“He told me he had applied for an appeal.

“But he has never shown me a copy of that appeal. He’s never shown me any documents.”

The visits and calls ended, and for the past six months Suman has had no contact with her husband.

“In hindsight, it was like being a prostitute you take along and have a good time with and then leave behind.

“When he returned to England, there would be no communication. A month before he was due to come back, he established contact again.

“Many a time I let that pass, thinking he might be busy, but now I get the feeling that I was being used all this time.”

In the bustling city of Chandigarh, lawyer and women’s rights activist Daljit Kaur has dealt with many similar women who have been deserted by their husbands who live in the UK, Canada and the US.

“There are 15,000 to 20,000 abandoned brides in India,” she said.

Daljit Kaurs thinks up to 6,500 British men may have left brides in India

In India these women are called “holiday brides” and Mrs Kaur believes British Asian grooms account for a third of all such cases.

In the village of Rurka Kalan, in the Doaba region of Punjab, an area that has strong links to Britain’s Indian community, I was taken to a local community centre, a bare single-storey concrete building.

There I was staggered to discover up to a dozen women huddled together, clutching their marriage documents and wedding photographs.

The youngest of these “holiday brides” were barely out of their teens.

A pretty girl dressed in a shalwar kameez (tunic and trousers) had married a man from Coventry, central England.

She said: “He did not give me any reason, why he did this.

“I came to know later through relatives that he did not want to stay married to a girl from such a poor background.”

The eldest was a 41-year-old lady who was deserted by a Glaswegian man more than 20 years ago.

She handed me a scrap of paper with an address scrawled on it, urging me to trace him for her.

Not one of these women had re-married. They said their lives had been ruined in this socially conservative part of India, where divorce is frowned upon. Many are forced to depend on relatives for financial handouts.

After marriage, they physically and mentally tortured me ‘Rani’, 25

But Indian women are still falling for British suitors.

Jassi Khangura, a businessman from London and now a politician in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, says Indian families are obsessed with emigrating to the UK.

“People are desperate to migrate, because they don’t think this land gives them the opportunities they need, particularly for girls,” he said.

Rani, (not her real name) is one such 25-year-old is hoping for a better life in the UK. She got married in January.

“When the marriage date was fixed he asked for around £12,000 so my parents sold our house, to give him the money,” she said.

In India, paying and accepting a dowry - a centuries-old tradition where the bride’s parents present gifts of cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom’s family - has been illegal since 1961.

But the practice still thrives in rural areas, and a British Asian groom can command a dowry of up to £20,000 in Punjab.

After Rani’s marriage, her in-laws demanded more cash, but her parents could not pay, and she was dumped.

“After marriage, they physically and mentally tortured me.

“He made me abort my baby, then they threw me out of their house.”

Balwant Ramoowalia said fraudulent husbands should be sent to India

Rani still wears her wedding bangles in the hope that she will one day be reunited with her husband in England.

I managed to trace Rani’s husband in England. He claims to have left her after discovering she had a boyfriend who she continued to see after they were wed.

Another “runaway groom” I located in England claimed he was duped by his Indian bride, who only married him for a British passport.

UK matrimonial expert Tahir Mahmood helps arrange marriages, and believes British men are the victims.

“Anyone from back home (India), they want British, British, British… the girls over there, don’t care if someone has been married twice before, they don’t care how he looks like or what his background is.”

The British government’s Forced Marriages Unit says it has been dealing with a rising number of forced marriage cases involving British men.

In India, legal action against missing British grooms is a complex and lengthy process.

Clampdown sought

Inspector General Gurpreet Deo, from the Punjab police force, said: “If the person is residing abroad, one has to seek recourse through the extradition treaty.

“The expertise and knowledge of the police officers themselves in this area is so restricted, I don’t think any case would reach that level.”

But politician Balwant Ramoowalia, of the Lok Bhalai party in Punjab, believes both India and Britain should clamp down.

He said: “If there is any misconduct, cheating or fraud, the husband should be sent back to India.

“There should be a provision that maintenance should be given to the girl till the case is final.”

The Home Office in the UK says it has not received a single extradition request in relation to abandoned Indian brides.

Meanwhile the Indian government has set up a department to provide assistance to the thousands of women who live in hope of being reunited with their husbands.

The redevelopment has seen the creation of new seafront restaurants

Boscombe is on a big mission to improve its rundown image and attract a new crowd of visitors all year round.

The Dorset town’s centrepiece is the multimillion-pound artificial surf reef, the first of its kind in Europe which, it is hoped, is set to enhance the quality of waves and improve surfing conditions.

The seafront promenade has already been redeveloped, a new boutique hotel is welcoming its first guests and owning a slice of a luxurious apartment block could set you back £1m.

But are developers forgetting what is already there?

The £11m redevelopment of Boscombe seafront has already run over budget, with the artificial surf reef almost doubling in cost from £1.4m to £3m and opening more than a year late.

‘Falling to pieces’

Steve Kent, of Boscombe Traders’ Association, said that some of the extra money Bournemouth Borough Council had used in the project could have been spent on updating the town centre.

“The principle is a brilliant idea,” he said.

“The work that they have done to the seafront is great, although it could have been done a lot cheaper.

Traders want more investment in the town centre Surf reef opens after year delay Have surf reefs worked elsewhere?

“What we have is an old 1960s precinct which is 40 years out of date, it needs upgrading because it is slowly falling to pieces.”

Lisa Northover, a councillor for Boscombe West, and runs website Boscalicious to promote the town.

She moved to the town 10 years ago and said when she used to look out of her window she would see open drug taking and prostitution.

“I have seen such a massive improvement already from it,” she said.

“There has been a lot of new, really high quality businesses that have come to the area. It’s just so different to 10 years ago.

“I think some people are willing it not to work, but you can see it working.

“So many people away from Boscombe have heard about it, people see it as something special.

“What I am expecting to see is more of a year round impact. We are already busy in the summer and are more likely to see people coming in the winter.”

An affluent surfer market will be attracted to the area, extending the tourism through winter Mark Smith, Bournemouth Borough Council

David Kilburn, head of business development at Bournemouth University, said the reef development would draw in a “hotchpotch” of people.

But he believes social problems still in the town need to be contained and eradicated or it will risk impacting on tourism.

“[The project] is creating a lot of impact,” he said.

“Bournemouth itself is very busy in the summer even if the weather isn’t good.

“I think the surf reef will continue to draw people to that part of Boscombe beach area. People will want to go down there and check it out.

“I don’t think necessarily the people coming in will pose any problems.

“The issue is one that we have always had, there are some socially disadvantaged people living in that area and they have to be careful that they help those people, rather than having drunks around the beach, drug addicts openly taking drugs.

“It needs to be contained and eradicated and the only way to do this is to help these people.”

Mark Smith, director of tourism with Bournemouth Borough Council, said that the reef met expectations even before it was even completed in terms of regeneration and attracting new businesses.

“A great amount of both public and private money has been invested in Boscombe and this would not have happened without the reef,” he said.

“An affluent surfer market will be attracted to the area, extending the tourism through winter…rather than the trade having to rely on the traditional period of July and August.

“Compared to other artificial reef projects in the world, we have gone so much further with the Boscombe reef as it is so well-supported by excellent facilities on land.”

Another big tourism project on the south coast widely criticised for being over budget and behind schedule was Portsmouth’s 170m (558ft) Spinnaker Tower.

In 2005, Portsmouth City Council finally opened the long-awaited structure, which depicts a billowing sail.

The Spinnaker Tower is attracting 100,000 visitors a year

The project, originally due to open for the Millennium celebrations, was five years late and cost £36m, more than £11m of that being footed by the taxpayer.

But it has been a success, attracting 100,000 visitors and bringing in more than half a million pounds a year.

“It has become an icon of the south coast and it has drawn the city together,” said Portsmouth councillor Lee Hunt, cabinet member for culture and leisure.

“The lesson that I could give would be to get behind this project, make it work and find ways of making it work.

“It is a ripple-effect, how to build on the success and how to best utilise the success.”