More civil partnership ceremonies have taken place in Brighton and Hove than anywhere else in the country.

There were 3,648 civil partnerships between December 21 and January 31, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

Male couples formed most partnerships with 2,510 ceremonies while female couples formed 1,138.

The Civil Partnership Act came into force on December 5 and enabled same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship for the first time.

The first day couples could form a civil partnership in England and Wales was December 21.

The figures meant an average of almost 89 partnership ceremonies took place each day.

Brighton and Hove was where most partnership ceremonies took place (126), second most popular was Westminster (121), followed by Kensington and Chelsea (105).

Almost 700 civil partnerships took place on the first day the arrangements came into operation.

Thirteen couples had already formed civil partnerships under special arrangements since the law permitting them came into force.

Many dubbed the partnerships "gay marriages" but they are not regarded officially as such. The partnership grants new rights in areas such as employment, pension and inheritance.

Among the first couples to sign up were Sir Elton John and his long-term partner David Furnish who "wed" at Windsor's Guildhall.

The elegant 17th Century building was the Prince of Wales's choice of venue for his marriage to the Duchess of Cornwall last April.

The ten busiest areas for civil partnerships were Brighton and Hove (126), Westminster (121), Kensington and Chelsea (105), Hampshire (76), Kent (75), Richmond (71), East Sussex (69), Devon (66), Islington (64) and West Sussex (62).