KATHY Orme and Paul Claridge have made history by becoming the Isle of Wight's first mixed-sex couple to form a civil partnership.

Following a change in the law, allowing mixed-sex couples to become civil partners instead of getting married, Kathy and Paul, of St Lawrence, headed to the Isle of Wight register office at Seaclose on New Year's Eve.

Their union was witnessed by close friends Tania and Stuart Herman.

Kathy and Paul, who met in 1999, decided to form a civil partnership to give them the same legal standing as a married couple.

"We'd like to go on and get married one day with a church service, and celebrate properly with family and friends, but until we get round to organising a big event, this gives us the legal protection we've been seeking," said Kathy.

Register office staff told Kathy and Paul they were the first Isle of Wight couple to take advantage of the new law.

It comes after five years of campaigning, spearheaded by London couple Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, who took their battle to the Supreme Court.

They said their wish to form a civil partnership was 'rooted in our desire to formalise our relationship in a more modern way, focused on equality and mutual respect.'

Civil partnerships were first introduced for same-sex couples in 2005, providing similar rights and entitlements afforded to married couples, such as marriage allowance tax relief and joint parental responsibility for children.

Nationally, as many as 84,000 ceremonies are expected to be conducted in 2020.