Bride Jenny Benham will not have her father to walk her down the aisle but he will still be an important part of her big day.

Jenny and her partner Simon Bennett are getting married on the bridge at Capstone Country Park which was built by her dad, who passed away nine years ago.

Carpenter David Tye designed and constructed the wooden bridge in 1992, after being drafted in by the council to create a centrepiece for the park’s fishing lake.

More than 20 years later, the bridge has been used by thousands of families and it is still going strong.

Guests, including Jenny and Simon’s four children, will gather there at 4pm today for the couple’s wedding blessing, after they legally tie the knot at a register office.

Jenny and Simon will walk from either side of the bridge and meet in the middle.

Jenny, 48, of High Street, Brompton, said: “The wedding will be a way to involve my dad in my special day.

“It was Simon who suggested it. He proposed at the Great Lines in August last year on a bench I like to sit on which overlooks the town.

“It was at that point that he suggested getting married at the bridge at Capstone because he knows how much it means to me. He knew it would be the perfect place.

“When he said it I cried.”

Mr Tye, who lived a stone’s throw from the country park in Capstone Road, died aged 65 after a battle with cancer.

He had been in the Royal Engineers and went on to became a carpenter and joiner, running his own business.

Jenny said: “I remember dad building the bridge; I was pregnant with my eldest son who is 23 now.

“The council asked for an ornamental bridge and dad designed and built it. As a former Royal Engineer, he knew how to build a bridge.

“Dad was very happy with it and as a family we are very proud.

“Bridges only have a certain life expectancy and dad expected his to last about 16 years but nearly 25 years later, it is still here.”