Visitors drawn to wedding hotspot

Nearly 4,000 couples from outside Scotland chose Gretna as their wedding venue in the last year.

Figures from the General Register Office show that 86% of ceremonies in the Dumfries and Galloway town did not involve a Scottish resident.

A total of 4,452 weddings were registered in the town in 2007 compared with the record of 5,555 in 2004.

It represents a slight increase from the figures recorded in the area for 2006.