IT'S the end of an era for York registrar Robert Livesey - who has presided over the weddings of more than 20,000 people.

Robert has worked at York Register Office for 25 years, since arriving from Manchester as the country's youngest Superintendent.

On Friday he conducted his final wedding, at Grays Court Hotel, with his retirement officially beginning later this month.

It has been an enjoyable career for Robert, whose memorable highlights include appearing on the front page of the Manchester Evening News when he conducted the wedding of his mother Barbara, marrying a couple live on Sky News in the clothes section of Asda, and presiding over a ghoulish wedding at York Maze.

"I must have married half of York," he said, "I didn't choose it as a career path, I fell into it and I have loved it from day one. It's the people you deal with, it's interesting.

"I still believe in the institution of marriage although it would be easy to be cynical about it. I have married one woman about five times in the time I have been here but I think 99 per cent of people go into it with their eyes open."

Robert began his career in Manchester when he became a registrar starting on births, deaths and marriages. He stayed in the city for 11 years, and recalls a particularly memorable Sikh ceremony where the groom arrived late, on an elephant.

Moving to York, Robert honed his skills as a senior registrar, preferring to take a more personal approach to ceremonies.

"When I came here there were six staff and it was as if they had been pickled," he said, "I was only 32 and I thought, 'what have I done'?

But, he said, he went on to love it. "There are 12 staff now. The thing I will miss is the people and the staff because my staff are brilliant."

The law changed in 1995 to allow civil weddings in approved premises other than the register office which saw him conducting ceremonies in a variety of premises and he also saw the rules change to allow civil partnerships for gay couples and then marriage.

He married one couple at the top of the York wheel, with guests watching via video link at the National Railway Museum and also married the former chief executive of City of York Council, Kersten England.

The wedding in Asda in York in 2004 was the first time a couple in Britain had tied the knot in a supermarket, he believes – and the press and TV gathered in strength to witness it. The bride had worked on the check outs and married a regular customer.

Robert isn't retiring completely and will still conduct some funerals for York's four main funeral directors.