Legislation to allow "civil partnerships" for gays and lesbians has been approved by the House of Lords.

Senior Tories in both the Lords and the Commons had expressed opposition to the Civil Partnerships Bill, which gives homosexual couples the same tax, inheritance and tenancy rights as married couples.

And backbencher Baroness O'Cathain launched a last ditch attempt to extend the Bill to siblings, parents and children over 18.

Peers eventually rejected that move, however, by 251 to 136 in a vote on Wednesday night.

Her amendment echoed a similar bid in the Commons by Conservative MP Edward Leigh, which was defeated by 381 votes to 74.

Ministers had insisted that both amendments were designed to "wreck" the legislation.

It was also official Conservative policy to support the plans as they stood.

Home Office minister Baroness Scotland told peers that the legislation did not amount to "gay marriage".

And she said that the legislation was not the place in which to deal with concerns about family members who look after each other.

"To ask for this Bill to be postponed because we cannot deal with the issues would be to perpetuate injustice," Baroness Scotland said.