Cornish beach art is the route to girlfriend's heart with marriage proposal shock

A man has pulled off the ultimate beach proposal for his future wife with a romantic message written in the sand at a Cornish beach.Luke Raynor, 29, from Kelbrook, in Lancashire, popped the question to girlfriend Jade Smith from the cliff edge at Gwithian Towans, near Hayle.In a beautiful gesture, the pair made it onto the beach where a message read 'Jade, will you marry me?'.

The couple, who have been together for more than four years - have been on holiday in the St Ives area for a trip they planned back in January.Jade (26) has been visiting the area since she was young, so Luke chose it to pop the question. But his plans to reveal his big gesture from the skies by flying over it in a plane were scuppered by bad weather.

Community care nurse Luke had employed the skills of local sand artist Chris Howarth to write the message in the sand.Chris had to begin the art work at 8am ready for the couple's arrival two hours later.Luke laughed: "Jade was a nightmare, asking questions about why we were going to the beach so early. She wanted her breakfast. She didn't want to walk to the cliff edge because she was wearing her flip flops."Jade loves animals and the only way to get her over to view the artwork was to say I could see a seal. The artwork was amazing from the cliff edge. This is when I got down on one knee."Jade admitted: "I've been nagging Luke for ages to get engaged and he always let me down gently by saying 'one day but not yet' so I was not expecting it to be anytime soon."I was also not expecting it to be so extravagant. I can't believe he managed to pull it off as he is terrible with keeping secrets."He's definitely hidden the stress very well and I'm still in shock from the proposal."