A church diocese has given its vicars a vigilance check-list for weddings - over fears it is being specifically targeted by foreign marriage sham gangs.
As three more people involved in bogus marriages in the Lancashire town of Accrington face jail, church officials have vowed to step up the fight against the Nigerian and East-European immigration gangs.
Last month a special police unit was set up to tackle the problem in Accrington, already identifying around 40 sham ceremonies in the small town - with mainly Nigerian grooms paying up to £10,000 to marry cash-strapped East-European women legally living here.
Detectives in the newly formed Lancashire Immigration Crime Team believe crime gangs have targeted Accrington because its clergy 'are not as alive to this kind of abuse'.
Now the Blackburn Diocese has put it's priests on red alert for telltale signs such as: 'no intimacy between the couple', 'not speaking the same language', 'cultural and religious differences' and other indicators such as 'tags still in suits and wedding dresses' - as the crooks intend to return them to the store the next day.
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