Vicar on 'sham marriages' charge

Mr Brown was remanded in custody until a court hearing on Thursday

A vicar is one of two men charged following an inquiry into allegations of "sham marriages" in East Sussex.

Rev Alex Brown, 60, the vicar at St Peter and St Paul Church in St Leonards, and Bladymar Buckak, 32, were arrested on Tuesday.

The UK Border Agency joint immigration crime team charged them with conspiring to facilitate unlawful entry to the UK.

Mr Brown, of Blomfield Road, was also charged with solemnising a church marriage without banns being published.

They will appear at Hastings Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Mr Buckak, of Angelsea Terrace, was charged with one count of conspiring to facilitate unlawful entry and carrying out an act tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.

He was charged with one count of using a false document.

Another man and woman have been bailed pending further inquiries.

A spokesman for the Chichester diocese said the vicar had been suspended from his duties pending the outcome of the investigation.