Campaigners wave a rainbow flag in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, which legalised same-sex marriage across the nation in 2015 REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

A lesbian couple are set to receive $10,000 (£7,700) after a visit to the West Virginia county clerk's office for a marriage licence turned what should have been one of the happiest days of their lives into a bitter memory.

Amanda Abramovich and Samantha Brookover applied for the licence last year but were abused by a deputy clerk in the office who called them an "abomination", adding that God would "deal" with them, according to a complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

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But now the Gilmer County clerk's office has agreed a damages payment and issued an apology to the couple, the Associated Press reported, citing lawyers acting for the women.

Deputy clerk Debbie Allen ranted for several minutes, according to court documents. Another clerk joined in, shouting that it was Allen's "religious right" to harass the couple, the complaint said.

During this abuse Abramovich remained silent, while Brookover cried, according to court papers. The couple have been together for seven years.

They received their marriage licence, but it was not the joyous day the women or their families had hoped for.

When Brookover's mother later called the county clerk's office to report the incident, she said County clerk Jean Butcher told her the couple deserved what they got. The next same-sex couple that sought a marriage licence, she allegedly said, "would get the same or worse" treatment.

God was standing with me

A week after encounter, Allen told the Charleston Gazette-Mail: "I just told them my opinion. I just felt led to do that. I believe God was standing with me and that's just my religious belief."

But in a statement this week Gilmer County apologised and said the couple were wrongly "disrespected and disparaged".

It added: "That was wrong. It is the policy of Gilmer County and the Gilmer County Clerk's Office that all people seeking services and doing business with the County will be treated courteously and with respect regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity."

The county also said that all officials and employees of the county commission and county clerk's office take part in a training programme provided by Fairness West Virginia, a lobby group for the fair and equal treatment of LGBT West Virginians.

In last year's US Presidential elections 75% of Gilmer County residents voted for outspoken Republican Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court ruled in June 2015 that the Constitution gives same-sex couples the right to wed, no matter where in America they live.