A GROOM waited until his wedding night to break it to his bride that their reception site had burned down.

Clare Watson, of Elton, knew nothing about the damage to Helsby Ex-Serviceman's Club when she married partner of seven years Lee Horton in Zakynthos, Greece.

The couple were unable to hold their party there after an extractor fan caught fire in the snooker room, filling the club with smoke, at the start of this month.

Their 40 wedding guests knew the club, where the couple were due to hold a party for 280 guests last Saturday, suffered major damage in the fire.

But they decided to leave Lee to tell his new wife the news after their wedding ceremony in a Greek town hall.

Luckily, Lee was also able to break some good news to Clare - that managers at Chester's Crowne Plaza Hotel learned of their plight and offered them a suite for their party.