CarnalNation

Tom Freeman and Katherine Doyle who wanted to become the first heterosexuals in Britain to have a civil partnership said they would begin a legal challenge after a council refused their request.

Both 25, the couple want the same legal rights as any husband and wife, but said they did not want to be seen to be "colluding with the segregation that exists in matrimonial law between gay civil partnerships and straight civil marriage". UK law bans opposite-sex civil partnerships.

Freeman and Doyle, who are supported by the human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, plan to seek legal advice. Tatchell said "Tom and Katherine will first have to challenge this refusal through the British courts and, if this fails, then appeal to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. He applauded Katherine and Tom and support their bid for heterosexual equality."