FEWER same-sex couples got married in Bradford in 2022 than before the coronavirus pandemic, latest figures show.

Office for National Statistics data, which was published during Pride month, shows 31 same-sex couples married in Bradford in 2022 - down from 34 in 2019.

However, across England and Wales, more same-sex marriages took place than in any year since it became legalised.

Same-sex marriage was legalised in 2014, with the number of couples nationally getting married steadily rising since then, including 7,800 in 2022, the largest figure on record and more than 10 per cent higher than any other year.

Campaign group Out4Marriage said the rapid growth rate of same-sex marriage nationally illustrates why legalising it "was so important".

Benjamin Cohen, co-founder of Out4Marriage, said: "Far from devaluing the institution of marriage as some opponents claimed at the time, same-sex marriage has enhanced and preserved the institution of marriage in our country."