A Czech bride has been given a six month suspended jail sentence after taking part in a sham marriage.

Despite being married to her husband since 1992, Natasha Lakatosova took part in the wedding ceremony at St Peter’s Church in Accrington in July 2009 after claiming to live in Exchange Street, Accrington.

Lakatosova, 38, of Liverpool, admitted bigamy at a hearing at Burnley Crown Court in September. She was given a six months jail sentence suspended for two years.

She agreed to be a bogus bride in a church wedding after she was offered £2,000 to stage the fake ceremony to help a Nigerian national cheat UK immigration rules.

Officers from the UK Border Agency arrested Lakatosova at home in May as part of an ongoing operation targeting sham marriages in the North West.

A sham marriage typically occurs when a non-European national marries someone from the European Economic Area, including the UK, as means of attempting to gain long-term residency and the right to work and claim benefits.

Dave Magrath, Head of the UK Border Agency Immigration Crime Team in the North-West, said: “This sentencing sends out a strong message to those thinking of undertaking sham marriages in order to gain entry to the UK or seeking to make a profit from helping others to do so.

"We have specialist teams of immigration officers and police working to investigate cases just like this to ensure people are not able to benefit from breaking the UK’s immigration laws. Whether you take part in the marriage or arrange for others to stage fake weddings we are determined to track down those involved and bring them to justice.”

The groom in this case will be removed from the UK.