A WINTON man rode down the zip wire from Bournemouth Pier dressed in a tuxedo to propose to his girlfriend yesterday.

Mark Williams, 46, surprised his now-fiancé, Julie Power, 45, yesterday morning by getting down on one knee after flying over the sea on the Rock Reef PierZip line.

He left Julie to take photos after claiming he won a competition for a free ride on the zip line and quickly changed into the smart outfit away from view. When Mark arrived by Julie’s side, he took out a rose and a ring from his pocket and asked his girlfriend to marry him, which she happily said ‘Yes’ to.

Afterwards, Mark said: “It was actually her idea, we were just joking around about ideas for a proposal. I felt relieved and I could just chill out after, as I had felt so nervous for the past couple of days.”

Julie added: “I just felt really shocked, but also very happy. He told me that he was doing the zip wire because he won a competition. I had no idea at all. I was just there to take photos.”

Mark and Julie met after getting the same bus each day and Mark took a liking to her straight away. But it was a chance reunion via a dating website that brought them together.

He said: “A year and a half ago, I had some problems with my heart, so I had some stents fitted and I had to start getting the bus to work.

“I got on the bus and I used to get on in Winton, then Julie would get on a few stops further along. She just started saying ‘Hi’ to me when walking past on the bus. Then I started working in Poole and stopped getting the bus.”

He said that he joined a dating website and suddenly got a message from Julie, which meant that they were re-united and eventually fell in love.