A Helsby woman has bitten the Leap Year bullet and asked her partner of seven years to marry her - with the help of more than 50 other women!
Sports development officer Louise Shannon and her partner Steve Binns, a police officer with Cheshire Police, are keen walkers, so it was no surprise to him when she suggested a walk up Helsby Hill on Sunday, February 28.
And being accompanied by more than 50 women who joined them off the train at Helsby railway station was not unusual either - Louise, 36, runs beginners' running group called the Plodders, of which Steve is an honorary member.
When Steve, 54, reached the top of the hill he was duped into taking a photograph of the group supposedly to support Sport England's This Girl Can campaign.
But when the women revealed their 'race numbers', instead of spelling This Girl Can, they spelt out the words WILL YOU MARRY ME? with Louise wearing the ME and her 12-year-old daughter Abbigail sporting the all-important question mark.
Louise said: "He didn't quite twig at first but then someone shouted: 'What's the answer? Thankfully he said yes!'"
Louise, who describes herself as a control freak 'Monica', after the Friends' character, then produced a ring that she had bought for herself, engraved with the trig point of Helsby Hill.
She added: "I also got Steve a leather bracelet engraved the same way. I bought the ring locally and we went to the Helter Skelter to celebrate afterwards. We hope to get married in 2018 in the town as it really is my thing to support local businesses."
Legend has it that women have the right to propose to their loved one every four years, on February 29. As Louise and Steve were both working today, she chose to make her plea a day early.
Did you propose this Leap Year? And did he say Yes? Let us know in the comments box below:
