A COUPLE from Basingstoke are thought to have made history for the second time, by becoming the very first same-sex couple in Hampshire to renew their wedding vows.

Darren and Heath Saunders were joined by family and friends at Basingstoke Register Officer on October 5 at a special ceremony to declare their love and commitment to each other.

On February 14, 2006, the pair became the first couple in the town to enter into a civil partnership, and will now go down in history again as the first in the county to renew their marriage vows with Hampshire Registration Service.

Darren and Heath decided to renew their vows after converting their civil partnership to a marriage in February 2015, following a change in the law in March 2014 allowing same-sex couples to marry in England and Wales.

The couple did not have a proper service in 2015 when they became legally married, and so decided to renew their vows a decade after entering into a civil partnership to celebrate with family and friends.

Darren said: “When we converted it to a marriage we didn’t have a celebration it was just paper swapping it from one to another.”

The 45-year-old met Heath, 49, when he interviewed him for a job at a care home in Oakley.

Darren, who works as a night team leader at a care home, told The Gazette: “I interviewed him and we started going out and that was it. It was love at first sight.”

The couple, of Fletcher Close, Kings Furlong, celebrated their vow renewal at The Riverdene Pub in Eastrop.

Darren told The Gazette they feel “very special” being the first same-sex couple in the county to renew their vows, adding: “It meant a lot. It’s like we are a normal couple like a man and woman.”

A spokeswoman for Hampshire Registration Service said: “According to our records, Darren and Heath are the first couple to have recorded their civil partnership, converted this to a marriage, and renewed their wedding vows, all with Hampshire Registration Service. They also chose Basingstoke Register Office for all three celebrations and, as a service, we are delighted and privileged to have participated in such special occasions for Darren and Heath, and to make a bit of Hampshire history in the process.”