A couple have married 300 feet down a south Wales coal mine.

Mark Lee, and fiancee Christina Golledge, both originally from Wales, made the journey to the Big Pit in Blaenavon from their home in Milton Keynes.

They wanted their wedding to be different and began planning the ceremony several months ago.

A total of 28 guests - complete with hard hats - a harpist, two registrars, a photographer and a TV crew joined the couple underground on Saturday.

For the ceremony, the bride wore a burgundy dress and the groom wore a suit.

Both had to wear hard hats, a torch, and an emergency pack which included a gas mask.

When they returned to the surface after the ceremony the newlyweds said it had been a fantastic experience and just what they wanted.

They then went for cake and champagne in the former colliery's canteen, where they were serenaded by Blaenavon Male Voice Choir.

Even though Big Pit mining museum stopped being a coal mine in 1980, everyone in the wedding party had to wear a safety helmet with miner's lamp and carry a gas mask.

"We're Welsh exiles living in England and we wanted to come back to Wales to get married," Mr Lee said.

Romantic

"We actually thought it was very romantic to be deep in the country that you feel so much part of."

In keeping with tradition, the wedding dress was kept under wraps until the ceremony, but Ms Golledge had earlier revealed that she would not wear a veil.

"I was thinking of attaching it to the helmet but I decided against it," she said.

"And the dress is machine washable."

Once they exchanged their vows, the couple - both practising Buddhists - left the cold and dark behind them for a reception in a pub in Blaenavon.

There they watched Wales's defeat at the hand of France before jetting off on honeymoon to Thailand.