Lembit halts marriage rumours

Rumours of a fairytale wedding for Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Opik and his Cheeky Girl love Gabriela Irimia have turned out to be just that - a fairytale.

The Lib Dem MP, whose relationship with the 24-year-old Romanian pop star has filled dozens of newspaper column inches, categorically denied today he had booked a date or a church in the Newtown or Kerry area for their marriage.

"I haven't got married this weekend and despite everything that's been written in the national press this weekend, I haven't booked a church in Mid Wales for a wedding at any future date either," he said.

But the rumours were so "hot" this weekend, half a dozen journalists from the national press doorstepped the MP's home in Newtown on Saturday, checking out the claims that the year's most unlikely couple were about to get hitched.

"They wouldn't believe me so they were there all day," he said, adding that while he was going about constituency business in Montgomeryshire, Gabi was in London.

The Welsh Liberal Democrat leader's love life has been the cause of much speculation over the years, first with his long-running engagement to weather forecaster Sian Lloyd, 48, and their inability to set a wedding date.

Last week Sian was said to be thinking of putting Lembit's engagement ring for sale through the internet auction site eBay.