THE rector of a church in Tilbury once besieged by a “flood of sham marriages” says there hasn’t been a trickle since he enlisted the help of the UK Border Agency.

Father Tim Codling, of St John the Baptist Church, Dock Road, told the authorities that he believed a marriage of two foreign nationals he was due to conduct in August was fake.

They set up a sting and stormed the wedding on August 25, arresting five people, including the bride and groom.

Three months on Father Tim has nothing but praise for the UK Border Agency and Essex Police, but the diocese of Chelmsford is a different matter.

He said: “The support we have had from the UK Border Agency and Essex Police, both secular organisations, has been phenomenal, they have kept us fully up to date.

“The church is seen as a caring organisation, after the sting we requested a meeting with the bishop at the earliest opportunity “Sadly the earliest opportunity isn’t until November 28, I’ll let people draw their own conclusions from that.”

Speaking about what drove him to involve the authorities, father Tim added: “We were getting swathes of people appearing out of the blue and saying they lived in Tilbury when we knew with a degree of certainty that they didn’t.

“I was phoning the diocesan registrar about my concerns, but these people were still coming back with common licenses to wed.

“Not only did I feel that morally I couldn’t officiate these marriages, the other point was that it was taking up my time, these people were coming in and disrupting our regular worshipping routine.

“That was my personal concern, the impact it was having on life at St John’s.

“We took matters into our own hands and contacted UK Border Agency and the police.”

Since the operation and the media coverage that followed, the “swathe” of marriage applications have dried up.

Father Tim said: “I am a very happy and content person now, where we were getting a flood of sham marriage applications there’s not even a trickle now.

“Where I was facing disciplinary action for refusing to officiate these ceremonies, I’m told now that if a clergyman suspects there is any skulduggery involved he can refuse to conduct the marriage.”

Speaking about the upcoming meeting with the Bishop of Bradwell, Fr Codling added: “ Its disappointing it has taken so long, but November 28 actually marks the start of our new year in the church, so there couldn’t be a better time for us to move into a new chapter.”