BOURNEMOUTH beauty spot Hengistbury Head provided the setting for a wedding proposal with a difference.

Mark Gibson-Cook commissioned a commemorative brick engraved with the inscription ‘Will you marry me? Mark & Katie 2014’ as a way of popping the question to girlfriend Katie Spencer.

He then took Katie to Hengistbury Head for a romantic picnic, and got down on one knee beside the brick.

Katie, a 25-year-old social worker, accepted instantly and the pair were presented with another brick by visitor centre staff and volunteers, simply stating: “She said YES!”

Mark, 28, a programme co-ordinator for a local charity, is a former St Katherine’s pupil who was brought up in the Hengistbury Head area. He said the place was special to both of them.

“I’ve lived in the area most of my life but we are currently looking at getting a new house outside the area and I thought it would be a nice memorable place to come back to,” he said.

“It took a bit of organising, a bit of to-ing and fro-ing organising the brick and getting the champagne down there.

“And trying to keep it a secret wasn’t easy but she really had no idea. I liked the idea of a brick because it’s something that is going to stay there, it’s written in stone, quite literally. It just seemed appropriate.”

The pair are hoping to get married in either late 2015 or early 2016.

Visitor centre manager Natalie Fisher said: “We were thrilled to be involved in Mark and Katie’s special day.

“Mark definitely gets points for originality and romance with this well-planned proposal, and Katie’s reaction was brilliant.

“We wish them a very happy life together, and hope they’ll treasure their new connection to the visitor centre.”