A GAY clergyman has become the first ordained priest to break the Church of England's ban on same-sex marriages to wed his partner.

Canon Jeremy Pemberton, who is a hospital chaplain in Lincolnshire, is reported to have tied the knot with long-term partner Laurence Cunnington at a hotel on Saturday, describing the nuptials as "a lovely wedding".

Last month, same-sex marriages became legal in England and Wales after a change in the law was voted in by MPs.

However, the Church of England, while advising its clergy to offer pastoral support to members of their congregation in same-sex marriages, barred gay ordained priests from being wed.

Canon Pemberton may now face a disciplinary process for his defiance of the Church's rules.