The Church of England is embarking on a new project to create new guidelines for its marriage procedures to prevent the spread of "bogus weddings".

The move comes after a sharp rise in the number of migrants seeking church weddings following a crackdown by the Government on marriages of convenience at registry offices.

Marriages of convenience have been one way that foreign nationals have attempted to gain access to British citizenship, and has been the subject of a Government crackdown since 2005, the Daily Telegraph reports.