THE topical issue of marriage was on the council agenda this week when town hall chiefs voted in favour of conducting marriages in the boardroom at Mere Hall, Halliwell.

Councillors approved an application for the room to be added to the list of rooms approved for civil ceremonies.

Currently ceremonies at Mere Hall can be conducted in two separate parts of the building.

These include the statutory register office, which consists of four offices where a simple ceremony in front of two witnesses can be carried out, and the main ceremony suites, the Dobson Lounge and the Thomasson Suite.

But officials said that customer feedback indicated that there was a need for a medium-sized room, between the register office and the larger room which can hold up to 110 guests.

Officers said the boardroom, which can hold 20 people, would “fill the current gap in provision”.