All in the name of romance

From the beeb :-

Couple get engaged, then dial 999

The Mumbles lifeboat crew rescued the couple

A couple feared their romance was on the rocks - just moments after becoming engaged in a seaside proposal.

Soldier Shaun Mancinelli, based at Chippenham, Wiltshire, popped the question to his girlfriend Llian, 18, at Mumbles Outer Island near Swansea.

But they did not realise the tide had come in, cutting them off.

Instead of calling friends and family to share their good news, the bride-to-be found herself phoning 999 for the coastguard and a lifeboat.

Llian Randall, a secretary, had shared a celebratory drink with boyfriend Shaun, a private with the 9th Supply Regiment, the Royal Logistics Corps, who is due start a six month tour of duty in Afghanistan next week.

We're just hoping everything goes okay with the wedding - I'll probably have to be rescued by a helicopter for that Bride-to-be Llian Randall

Ms Randall said: "We had walked across rocks to get to a lighthouse on the island, and he got down on one knee to propose.

"It wasn't a shock because I'd chosen the ring but, of course, I said yes, and we shared a bottle of wine.

"It got to about 6pm, which is when Shaun had said the tide would be coming in. We thought we'd better go, but then we saw the path we'd walked over was completely covered with water."

"Shaun said: 'Clothes off, we're going to swim it', but I replied: 'No, we're not!'. It was about 60 metres and I can't swim very well.

"I had to call 999 and the coastguards arrived about 15 minutes later in the lifeboat."

Ms Randall, who has been with Pte Mancinelli, 29, from Glasgow for 18 months said she was worried first of all how they would get across.

"By the time the coastguards came I just thought it was funny.

'So romantic'

"We were both fine, and we went out for an Italian meal in Cardiff afterwards to celebrate our engagement."

Ms Randall, whose family are from Gorseinon, Swansea, said she is hoping the wedding will pass with less drama than the engagement.

She said: "I was a little bit shaken by what had happened, but it did help that we had drunk the wine. It's good to have an interesting engagement story, and we still had a great day.

"We're just hoping everything goes okay with the wedding - I'll probably have to be rescued by a helicopter for that!"

Helen Hutson, Swansea Coastguard's watch manager, said: "They phoned 999, which was absolutely the right thing to do.

"What was lovely was that the Red Arrows were doing a display as part of the Welsh Festival of the Air taking place in Swansea Bay this weekend.

"By complete coincidence, they did a big love heart with an arrow through it right over the bay while the couple were stuck on the island.

"They would have had a fantastic view. It would have been so romantic.

"If he has brains, he'll have told her he organised the whole thing."