Pippa Batty's wedding faced being wrecked when a power cut struck the church where she was to walk down the aisle.

Pippa, 29, and Gary Horrocks, 31, were returning to their home city of Bradford to get married at First Martyrs Church, Heights Lane, Heaton.

But the bride's family were horrified when Father John Murphy called at 9am on the big day to say the power had been cut off during the night.

The bride's mother, Sue Batty, 56, of Daisy Hill Grove, Heaton, said: "I was so worried when Father Murphy called.

"Without any power there would have been no lighting and heating.

"And the keyboard would not have worked and my daughter would not have been able to have the special songs she had chosen for the day."

The family contacted Yorkshire Electricity - to find workmen had already responded to the power cut at 7.30 am.

Four engineers - Matthew Lamper, Martin Waddington, Mark Shuttleworth and Gary Goodall - dug a hole in the ground and cut out part of an electricity cable that had become damaged.

They then connected the church to another power supply until the problem could be sorted out permanently.

Mrs Batty said: "We can't thank Yorkshire Electricity enough for their efforts.

"They get such bad publicity but we were so pleased that they pulled all the stops out, especially as it was over the holiday period." She added: "They kept us informed the whole time and finally the power was restored in time."

The wedding of Pippa and Gary, who now live in Rotterdam, went ahead as planned at 1pm.

Paul Keenan, media-relations manager for Yorkshire Electricity said: "It was very important that we were able to help them get to the church on time.

"It was a very important day and we were pleased to play our part in helping it to run smoothly. We wish them all the best."

Father Murphy, of First Martyrs Church, said: "It was such panic in the morning.

"But the electrical engineers were absolutely wonderful and in the end everything turned out wonderfully well.

"The power was restored a couple of hours before the wedding so we were able to warm up the church before the service started.

"It really was an excellent day."

The couple, who have been together for six years, are now on honeymoon in Budapest.

Gary, an engineer, moved to Rotterdam three and a half years ago. Pippa, a teacher, followed him there a year and a half later.

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