An interesting proposal

An English gent had a bright idea when he thought of how to pop the question to his light o' love.

Colin Howell, 35, of Cromer, Norfolk – dressed in evening wear and with a champagne picnic and roses – took partner Miriam Light, 26, on the boat trip on Friday night to pop the question.

But the coastguard was alerted when their wooden boat drifted a mile and a half offshore.

Mr Howell insisted they were never in any trouble. ‘I had been waiting for a calm day and it was perfect,’ he said. ‘I paddled out past Cromer Pier, brought the oars in and got down on one knee. Miriam cried and said yes.

‘But ten minutes later a man on a passing fishing boat said the coastguard had been called and that he was taking us ashore.’

The alarm was raised when onlookers from Cromer Pier saw the boat about a mile-and-a-half from the beach in windy conditions.

A coastguard spokeswoman said: 'The inshore lifeboat was launched but, fortunately, there was a small fishing boat nearby and they brought them back safely.

'The coastguards were quite surprised when they met the couple.

'Instead of the normal garb, they had evening wear on. It wasn't quite what they expected to find.

'He had a black bow tie and a waistcoat and she had a flowy dress.

'It had been a romantic trip - he had proposed and she had accepted. Obviously, congratulations are in order.

'He had done the full works - picnic, champagne, flowers - but in the meantime they had got a mile-and-a-half out to sea.'

One is tempted to observe that since she'd accepted his proposal, it was too late for a rescue!



Peter