Julio the woolly monkey was taken to the centre after being rescued

An ape rescue centre has been granted a wedding licence for couples to tie the knot among chimpanzees.

The first ceremony is set to take place in September at the 65-acre Monkey World site in Wool, Dorset.

Couples can say their vows alongside Paddy’s Enclosure where 20 of the park’s 58 rescued chimpanzees live.

Wedding guests can also visit the rest of the park for pictures among the 235 animals, including 13 orangutans, 13 woolly monkeys and 90 capuchins.

Dr Alison Cronin, director of Monkey World, said: “Our first wedding is in September and we’re planning on a very special and unique experience for people who want to come and join our family and bring their families to the park.”

The centre was set up in 1987 by Dr Cronin and her husband Jim to provide abused Spanish beach chimps with a permanent home.

A spokesman for the centre said: “Monkey World is an ape rescue centre and so the primates who have been re-homed here have suffered abuse, neglect or cruelty in the past.

“Once at the park, they are rehabilitated and put into social groups with their own kind in a safe and natural environment.

“As such, our primates receive as little human contact as possible.

“However, there will plenty of unique photo opportunities for the happy couple around the park and by the primate enclosures.”

Wedding guests pinned 9,999 silk roses to the 2,162m-long dress

A Chinese bride has attempted to break the world record for the longest wedding dress by walking down the aisle in a 2,162m-long (7,083ft) gown.

Lin Rong’s dress was made for her by her husband-to-be, Zhao Peng, and his family in eastern Jilin province.

It took their 200 wedding guests three hours to unroll the fabric and decorate the train with 9,999 silk roses.

Mr Zhao’s mother said she knew her son was trying to express his love, but she thought the dress was a waste of money.

“I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet,” China’s Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Zhao as saying.

So instead, he decided he would use his nuptials to challenge the current wedding dress world record of 1,579m (5,180ft), set in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on 1 April 2009.

Mr Zhao enlisted most of his family to pitch in with his idea, bringing materials, choosing patterns, making silk roses and stitching on jewels on the day, Xinhua said.

His aunt, who conveniently is a dressmaker, had agreed to make the design.

Romantic gesture

And Mr Zhao’s feat did not end once he had tied the knot.

After the event, he cut the dress down to 1,984.1022m, to represent his bride’s date of birth, and added 608 crystals, one for every day they had dated.

Mr Zhao said he had submitted his attempt to Guinness World Records in London and would also be sending video footage.

“Both the length of the dress and the number of silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history,” he said, but added that it did not matter to him whether he was successful or not.

The whole effort cost Mr Zhao about 40,000 yuan ($5,800; £3,470), but his schoolteacher bride was reported to have “laughed and cried at the romantic gesture”.

Mr Zhao’s mother appeared less impressed.

“It is a waste of money in my opinion,” she told Xinhua.

“Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day.”

Legal action is being taken against a photographer who used a Cornwall village for an erotic photo shoot.

Pictures of models, some of whom were partially-clothed, were taken inside and outside St Michael Penkivel Church near Truro.

Cornwall-based photographer Andy Craddock is the subject of legal action by the priest in charge for blasphemy.

However, Mr Craddock, 43, of St Austell, described the pictures as “art” and said they were not offensive.

By anyone’s reasonable standards of decency this is beyond the pale Jeremy Downing, Diocese of Truro

Mr Craddock, who moved to Cornwall from London in 2008, said he used the 13th Century church for the shoot because he had seen it in the comedy movie Keeping Mum.

He said he admired the architecture and wanted the pictures to add to his portfolio of fetishist and erotic photography.

He told BBC News: “I can understand why some people would find them offensive and inappropriate.

“But the general feedback has been very positive.

“I never wanted to offend. This is done as art and shows the beauty of women.”

The solicitor’s letter describes blasphemy as the “publication of contemptuous, reviling, scurrilous or ludicrous matter relating to God, Jesus Christ, the Bible or the formularies of the Church of England”.

“Our clients believe that a number of these photographs constitute blasphemous material,” it adds.

Andrew Yates, the priest in charge of St Michael Penkivel, said in a statement: “No permission was ever sought by or given to Mr Craddock by the priest-in-charge or by the churchwardens for these photographs.

“I am deeply shocked that Mr Craddock could consider taking action that will inevitably cause great offence.”

‘Entirely improper’

He said it had cause upset to “those who have connections to the church through being married at St Michael’s or through loved ones who are buried in the churchyard”.

Jeremy Dowling, a spokesman for the Diocese of Truro, which is supporting the legal action, said the church was used without permission.

“The Church deplores the use of sacred space in this way,” he said.

“Whether he’s gone in there legally or illegally he is using the setting for an entirely improper purpose.

“By anyone’s reasonable standards of decency this is beyond the pale.”