A Christian B&B owner who famously turned away a gay couple is claiming at UKIP conference that she was “punished for believing in marriage”.

Civil partners Martin Hall and Steven Preddy were turned away from the Chymorvah Hotel near Penzance in 2008, under Peter and Hazelmary Bull’s policy of not allowing unmarried couples to share rooms.

The Bulls were involved in a long-running legal battle following the incident, but the UK Supreme Court rejected their appeal last year.

Hazelmary Bull is speaking today at the United Kingdom Independence Party’s annual conference in Doncaster, at a fringe event for the ‘Coalition for Marriage’ – which unsuccessfully tried to oppose same-sex marriage in England and Wales.

The fringe event at which Mrs Bull is a headline speaker is titled ‘Punished for believing in marriage’, and is listed on the UKIP website and official conference agenda.

A leaflet distributed for the fringe event claims: “The Coalition for Marriage is the number one opponent of the redefinition of marriage.”

The event is also attended by UKIP MEP for the North East, Jonathan Arnott, and Colin Hart, director of the Christian Institute..

Mr Hart previously attracted ridicule when he claimed: “Tens of thousands of teachers face the real prospect of being disciplined, or sacked, over the Government’s proposals to redefine marriage, creating a poisonous atmosphere in every staffroom in every school.”

Earlier today, Tory MP Mark Reckless, who voted for same-sex marriage last year, announced his defection to UKIP.