Not since Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarian forces laid siege to Sudeley Castle in 1664 has the Cotswold town of Winchcombe seen anything like it.

Once again the castle is surrounded by a ring of steel, but this time it is designed to keep out the scores of paparazzi who have descended for the celebrity wedding of the year.

When the actress Liz Hurley and Arun Nayar exchange vows in the 15th century chapel beside the castle — owned by Miss Hurley’s friends Henry Dent-Brocklehurst and his wife Lili Maltese — it will herald the start of a week of nonstop partying on two continents, with the festivities in Gloucestershire eclipsed by those in Bombay and Rajasthan.

But not everyone will be celebrating.

For the residents of the normally quiet town, this will be a weekend they would rather forget. Roads are due to be sealed off, car parks closed and Gloucestershire Constabulary’s finest will be on duty to make sure the restrictions are obeyed.

The streets were swarming with photographers yesterday, looking for the best vantage points to snap the celebrities as the convoys of black-windowed Range Rovers and Bentley Continentals choked the country lanes.

For those who have not been invited, which includes just about all Winchcombe’s 4,379 residents, the invasion of celebrities and their inevitable hangers-on will bring only disruption. The happy couple have not ingratiated themselves by failing to use the services of any local suppliers for the lavish wedding feast.

Rupert Chislett, of the Friends of Winchcombe, said: “It’s a bit of a cheek that the whole town is being disrupted for the private benefit of a few people.”

The celebrations begin this evening when the actress and her Indian fiancé exchange vows in a “traditional English ceremony” in the tiny chapel. The wedding party will then adjourn to two giant marquees for the wedding feast.

The guests are expected to include her former boyfriend Hugh Grant, star of the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, who had better not be late this time. Others are expected to include Sir Elton John and celebrities from film and fashion.

The castle is already ringed by security guards employed by Hello! magazine, reported to have paid £1 million for the exclusive rights to the event. Guests have been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.

The couple will be married by the Rev John Partington, who said: “I can’t say much but the service will be a traditional, English church wedding.”

Instead of presents of crockery, glassware and domestic appliances, Miss Hurley has asked for animals to stock her organic farm in the nearby village of Barnsley.

And just in case the £1 million face of Monsoon needs some assistance, she is reported to have four hairdressers, three make-up artists and a dresser to help her get ready.

But however lavish the party at Sudeley, it is likely to be put in the shade by the festivities in India next week. Guests will first descend on Bombay for a series of prewedding receptions, as is the Indian custom.

Then the entire troupe will decamp to the fort city of Jodhpur, the second-biggest city in Rajasthan, on Wednesday for another set of parties, culminating in the main Indian wedding ceremony.

The highlight in Bombay will be a reception thrown by Parmeshwar Godrej, the wife of Adi Godrej, one of India’s richest tycoons. For the Jodhpur celebrations the dress code is hot-pink saris for women and red turbans for men.

Three chefs have been flown in from Britain to provide the food, which will be a selection of Indian, Mexican and Western dishes.

Keep it simple

— Tom Cruise married Katie Holmes in the celebrity wedding of last year

— The venue was the 15th Odescalchi Castle, in the small town of Bracciano, near Rome

— The 150 guests were drawn from the couple’s closest Hollywood friends and included Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey and John Travolta

— Also at the ceremony were David and Victoria Beckham whose own 1999 wedding at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland, scaled new heights of vulgarity when the couple appeared seated on golden thrones

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