AN ILKLEY couple who travelled to Greece to get married received such a warm welcome from the locals their nuptials were televised.

Lindsay Fitton, 41 and Rachel Yates, 40, married each other on Stavros Beach in Crete, followed by a horse-drawn carriage ride around Chania. It was there the couple were filmed with the footage ending up on numerous news channels.

Lindsay said: "We chose Chania in Crete as we travelled there the year previously when I took Rachel away for her birthday and it was to my surprise where she asked me to marry her on that day. Chania is an old Venetian harbour and breathtakingly beautiful. We chose a beach nearby called Stavros Beach, famous for the film Zorba the Greek, for the ceremony.

"Then after the beach ceremony we made our way back to harbour it was then we were greeted with a overwhelming warm welcome from everyone and we then took a horse and carriage ride along the harbour to the restaurant IL Padrino.

"The amount of people cheering us was unbelievable and without our knowledge we were also being filmed.

"The following day we were televised on numerous Greek news channels which made our day even more magical."

The couple live together in the centre of Ilkley with daughters Demi and Mia, and have recently opened The Gin Lounge in Brook Street.

Lindsay added: "We met a number of years ago when I was living in Manchester and myself and my daughter moved to Ilkley after falling in love with Rachel and falling in love with Ilkley.

"After moving to Ilkley we decided to open up the Gin Lounge. After months of planning and work we eventually got the keys to the premises and took on the role of renovating the building ourselves. "Whilst in the process of this we saw the potential with the full building and decided to also open up the Edwardian suites which consists of two boutique Edwardian hotel rooms, Edwardian decor, antique furniture along with huge on suites with roll top baths."

Recently, Crete has become a destination for weddings. The Venetian harbour of Chania is often referred to as one of the most precious jewels of western Crete. The old harbour is the busiest part of the old town of Chania and it is lined with cafeterias, tavernas, shops and preserved historical attractions dating back to the Venetians during their colonization in Crete between 1320 and 1356.