Visitors to Pakefield beach got a true sense that love was in the air after a taxi driver popped the question to his long-term girlfriend...with a banner from a plane bearing the words: 'Will u marry me?'

Lowestoft Journal: The plane flying overhead. Pictures Paul Peek- Peek PhotographyThe plane flying overhead. Pictures Paul Peek- Peek Photography (Image: www.peekphotography.co.uk)

Mohammud Ali - known to his friends as Ali - went the extra mile to propose to his 22-year-old partner Rashida Rabhi by organising for the aircraft to fly over at the spot where they had enjoyed their first date five years ago.

The proposal had quite literally been up in the air for months as the 28-year-old had to postpone plans for the romantic moment several times due to bad weather.

But last week Mr Ali's blue-sky thinking over the past year finally paid off when the plane flew overhead just as he got down on one knee to pop the question - and a shocked Miss Rabhi said yes.

She described how the memorable proposal started with her thinking it was just another usual date night.

'At the start of the day he treated me to a massage and said we were going out in the evening,' she said.

'I got my mother to babysit and at first he first took me bowling.'

Mr Ali said there was then about an hour until what Miss Rabhi expected would be a meal.

So, as if by fate, she suggested the pair go for a walk along Pakefield beach - the exact destination where Mr Ali had already planned to propose.

'We were walking on the sand near the Jolly Sailors pub and the next thing I knew he grabbed my hand, told me how much he loved me and how he wanted to spent the rest of his life with me,' said Miss Rabhi, who works at Hoseasons in Lowestoft.

'He then got down on his knee, got the ring out and asked me to marry him just as the plane came over.

'I said yes straight away. I felt really lucky and I cried.'

Mr Ali, who went to school in Great Yarmouth after moving to the country from Bangladesh as a young boy, said: 'I wanted to do something different.

'She is the love of my life and I wanted to show how much she means to me. I was feeling nervous as well as annoyed, as I had to keep putting it off because of the weather.

'I composed a speech on the computer and printed it out because I didn't want to start stuttering when I spoke to her.'

?For the full story pick up a copy of this week's Lowestoft Journal.

?Do you know anyone who is planning a romantic proposal in Lowestoft? Tell The Journal by emailing joe.randlesome@archant.co.uk or calling 01502 525 835.