A WHITE witch has been refused permission to hold a wiccan wedding ceremony in a public park in West Lothian.
She has now accused the council of religious discrimination, a claim the authority has denied.
West Lothian Council last night said her request to have flame-lit torches and a bonfire at Stewartfield park, Broxburn, had safety implications for the public.
Jessica Turner, 29, from Broxburn, West Lothian, wanted to re-enact the "handfasting" scene from Braveheart, the Hollywood blockbuster, where William Wallace - played by Mel Gibson - married his screen wife Murron by having their wrists bound together with rope.
However, Ms Turner claimed that permission to renew her wedding vows to her husband, John, 28, had been denied because council officials refused to recognise the Wicca religion.
The couple were married three years ago in a traditional Catholic ceremony at Scranton, Pennsylvania, in the USA.
Ms Turner, originally from Pennsylvania, had asked the council for permission to hold the ceremony to renew the couple's marriage vows on Hallowe'een next year.
She said: "If this were a Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim ceremony there would be no problem, but for some reason they are afraid because it is a pagan ceremony. In actual fact it is more of a Celtic ceremony than anything else and is exactly like a Catholic wedding except it is outside. These ceremonies are happening in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Peebles - so why not West Lothian?"
A spokeswoman for West Lothian council said it had every respect for people's right to reflect their own religion. But, she added: "Safety implications have to be taken into account."