Scottish church approves same-sex marriage.

The Scottish Episcopal Church today voted in favour of allowing gay couples to marry.

It makes it the first mainstream church in the UK to allow same-sex marriages.

Members of the church's houses of Bishops, Clergy and Laity voted in favour of the amendment to policy at the General Synod in Edinburgh earlier today.

Members of any Anglican church in the UK can now ask to marry in Scotland.

The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, said: "This is a momentous step.

"By removing gender from our marriage canon, our church now affirms that a same sex couple are not just married but are married in the sight of God."