With a combined weight of 54st, they say they are ‘too fat to work’.

But that did not stop Stephen Beer, 45, and wife Michelle, 43, being able to splash out £3,000 on their wedding – as the bill was footed by the taxpayer.

The couple’s big day – which saw £1,000 spent on catering, including £450 for their favourite kebab takeaway for the evening buffet – was funded almost entirely from benefits.

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Stephen Beer and Michelle Coombe, are from Plymouth, where 60 per cent of adults are overweight. The couple, who weigh more than 54 stone between them and claim £2,000 a month in benefits, have wed in a £3,000 ceremony - paid for by the taxpayer

The couple were filmed by the makers of Benefits: Too Fat To Work, a Channel 5 documentary about benefit claimants who claim their weight prevents them from working

Mr Beer, who has already been married five times, weighs 31 stone and has not worked in five years. His partner Ms Coombe has never worked and at 23 stone claims she is too big to find a job

Mr Beer, who was marrying for the sixth time, weighs 31st and had to have a suit specially made for the occasion.

By contrast his 23st wife became a bride for the first time and wore a white gown for the registry office ceremony and church blessing that followed.

Their 50 guests were treated to a three-course meal at the reception, followed later by the buffet.

The couple’s story was featured on the Channel 5 documentary Benefits: Too Fat To Work last night and viewers were shown how paramedics were called to the reception in Plymouth, Devon, before Mr Beer was taken to hospital feeling unwell.

Mr Beer can't stand up for more than a few minutes at a time, he relies on a council carer to get washed and dressed

He admits his 'hygiene would go out of the window' if the personal cleaner, who costs £8,000 a year and is paid for by the taxpayer, did not attend to him twice a day

Despite being jobless and on a weight management course, the couple can be seen treating themselves to kebabs after they went to a weigh in and realised they had lost a few pounds. The takeaway cost almost £12

Producers followed them as they organised the ceremony - including canapes and a buffet provided by their favourite kebab shop

The groom, who suffers from type 2 diabetes, hypertension and other problems linked to his weight, had a blood clot on the lung and instead of a honeymoon he spent nine days in hospital.

He can only stand for a limited period before becoming breathless and his wife said the wedding day trip to hospital was no surprise. Mrs Beer, who has not had a job during her adult life, said: ‘I reckon Stephen will be on benefits for most of his life.’

Mr Beer used to run a cleaning business and had to give up work six years ago following a stroke.

Interviewed about his benefits on the documentary, he said: ‘Is it right? Of course not. But at the end of the day I did work. I have worked, I haven’t sat on my a*** all the time.

'I have done some work and so really, why not?’

The programme also follows Amy Johnstone (right)who at just 18-years-old already weighs 32 stone

She is virtually housebound and unable to do the most basic things for herself, including wash, and as such is entitled to £240 a fortnight in Disability Benefits

Her mother Sharon (right) - who herself is 20 stone - helps her daughter to shower and claims that being on benefits has contributed to her weight problem

The couple receive around £1,700 a month in benefits. The rent on their one-bedroom flat is paid for by the taxpayer, and a carer comes twice daily to clean and help Mr Beer dress, but the taxpayer pays the £8,000-a-year cost.

Mr Beer also uses a specially strengthened mobility scooter, provided at public expense.

He insists he wants a job but says no one will give him work because of his weight. And yesterday, he blamed the Government for being too generous to those on benefits.

Speaking on ITV’s This Morning programme, Mr Beer said: ‘The Government is making it easy for people like us. The Government is making it easy for people on benefits.’ He said he didn’t think he deserved anything, adding: ‘I’m the one who put myself in this situation, no one else.’ However, he insisted he was now suffering from ‘prejudice’. He said he recently applied for an office job but claims he was turned down because he was too overweight.

Mr Beer said he became so overweight because of an addiction to food, but is now trying to sort himself out and plans to go to a boot camp later this month.

The couple both attended weight loss groups and courses at public expense in the run up to the wedding.

Commenting on the documentary – which also features other overweight people on benefits – weight-loss expert Steve Miller said: ‘Being obese shouldn’t entitle you to benefits. These people need to be motivated to turn their lives around and become useful members of society.’

Pictured is Amy as a child. She says she could not physically work even if she wanted to

Amy is pictured as a child. Her mother has to check she is breathing while she is asleep and she cannot sleep on her back in case her own fat suffocates her

The couple also made a controversial appearance on ITV's This Morning to discuss why they took part in the documentary

Mr Beer defended his inability to work, saying the employers were prejudiced against fat people

He also told host Phillip Schofield that he did not always eat kebabs, and that off camera he and his wife were eating 'healthy food'