A LESBIAN couple from Carrickfergus have asked Theresa May to change the law in the north so they can get married.

Jayne Robinson and Laura McKee, who have been together for six years, launched an online petition calling on the British prime minister to act while Stormont is suspended and legalise same-sex marriage.

The couple hope to gain 20,000 signatures and have attracted more than 5,000 in the 24 hours since the petition went live.

Ms Robinson said: “I love Laura and I know she loves me. Just like most other couples in a long-term, committed relationship, we want to get married. At the moment our politicians are stopping us.

“With devolution suspended and Westminster increasingly taking the decisions, we want Theresa May to act now to bring Northern Ireland’s marriage laws into line with those in the rest of the UK.

“The prime minister has recently said that she supports equal marriage rights for couples in Northern Ireland. Now Laura and I are asking her to prove it. We want to get married and we are asking people to sign our petition to demonstrate the huge support we know exists for marriage equality in Northern Ireland.”

Same-sex marriage is legal in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic but is banned in the north.

In 2015, a majority of MLAs in the assembly voted to support equal marriage but the measure was blocked by the DUP using a petition of concern.

The campaign is being supported by the Love Equality campaign for civil marriage equality in Northern Ireland and LGBT rights organisation All Out.