Serious concern has been raised regarding sham weddings, after changes in immigration law this week saw a huge upsurge in marriage applications to council registry offices, The MJ can exclusively reveal.

Chair of the Local Registration Services Association (LRSA), and director of registration at Brent and Barnet LBCs, Mark Rimmer, told The MJ that, since Monday, when the Immigration and Asylum Act was repealed, Brent has been inundated with marriage applications from people who have no right to live in the UK, have no visa, and wish to marry an EU national citizen.