The US Supreme Court has dismissed appeals from five states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages.

The court instead declined to decide once and for all whether states can ban gay marriage.

It is seen as a surprise move, in the first day of its new term, that will allow gay men and women to marry in five states where same-sex weddings were previously forbidden.

By rejecting appeals involving Virginia, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Indiana the court left lower-court rulings intact that had struck down the bans in those states.

Six other states - Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina - will likely follow suit.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in 24 US states - following a Supreme Court ruling last year.

The issue could still return to the court, but a national ruling on the issue is not expected anytime soon.

People on both sides of the debate had urged the judges to resolve the issue following the lower court rulings that the US Constitution guarantees same-sex marriage rights.