Mr and Mrs become Mrs and Mrs

A husband and wife have 'remarried' as a gay couple - 14 years after the groom had a sex swap operation.

Bernadette Rogers 76, formally Bernard (left) and her partner Joyce Rogers, 80 /PA

Bernard and Joyce Rogers wed in 1967 but have lived "like sisters" since 1991, when Bernadette, as she's now known, underwent gender surgery.

The retired physicist is now legally recognised as a woman thanks to the Gender Recognition Bill which became law last year.

And that meant she was able to have a civil partnership ceremony with Joyce.

Bernadette, of Woodford Halse, near Daventry, Northants, said: "We have exactly the same affection for each other we have always had.

"We have an absolutely ideal relationship. We complement each other in every way."

The proud 76-year-old added: "I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom this morning and thought, 'Yes, you have done it now.' It is a sense of completion."

Before "remarrying", the couple first had to divorce - because the Gender Recognition Bill does not acknowledge a change in a transsexual's gender if the person remains married.

A judge this week granted the couple an early release from divorce proceedings at Northampton County Court, giving Bernadette a new birth certificate which showed she is a woman.

They were then able to have their civil union ceremony.