FIRST love often blossomed behind the school bike sheds - but Ermysted's plans to have its own area for love.

The grammar school has now applied for a licence to hold weddings on its premises.

Headmaster Tom Ashworth said someone connected with the school had wanted to hold a wedding in the Memorial Hall as a one-off. The school had no objections but a licence was required. However, there were no plans to hold weddings there on a regular basis.

The licence will cover all civil marriage ceremonies.

North Yorkshire County Council supervises all licences to hold civil weddings and a spokesman said it was the first school to apply to stage a wedding.

However, all sorts of unusual places had successfully applied for a marriage ceremony licence, such as boats, football grounds, pubs, private houses and even an Asda supermarket and the Big Dipper at Blackpool!