A BRAVE girlfriend took a leap of faith yesterday as she asked her partner of 12 years for his hand in marriage in a very public way.

Sarah Drew, 36, said she “felt sick” all morning as she sat at work waiting to hear if boyfriend Adam Brooks had seen the prominent advert set up on the Oxford Mail website.

And she was overjoyed, if also slightly relieved, when he said yes.

Miss Drew said: “I proposed on Christmas Eve last year. It was a bit random. I spelled it out with little magnets on his bedside lamp. But Adam said no.

“But, as a bit of a joke, he said I could only do it on February 29.”

February 29, Leap Day, is traditionally the only day when a woman can propose to her boyfriend.

Miss Drew added: “So I emailed the Oxford Mail in January to ask about proposing via an advert and he came back saying he loved the idea.”

She knew her fiancé, like thousands of others, always caught up on the local news on the site every morning and would see the message when he got to work.

The display, featuring photos of them as a couple, took up nearly the whole homepage and included the words “you are the one piece of my life I cannot lose” and “the world is one big puzzle and we are two pieces that fit perfectly together”.

Mr Brooks, 40, who works at Beard Construction in Cumnor, said he never saw the proposal coming in such an imaginative way.

He added: “I was overjoyed that she asked and was so happy to say yes. We’re meant to be together.

“I thought the advert was fantastic, I was really impressed.”

On his way home from work yesterday he picked up an extravagant bunch of flowers for his fiancee to celebrate.

The newly-engaged couple live in Kysbie Close, Abingdon with four-year-old Jack Russell Archie. They first got together 12 years ago, after being friends first.

They met at the now-closed Cross Keys pub in Abingdon where Miss Drew then worked behind the bar, and Mr Brooks was part of the pub’s football team.

And, of course, it was Miss Drew who made the first move.

She said: “It was all me. He’s about as romantic as the dog. I probably get more kisses off the dog.”

Miss Drew, who works at a finance company in Harwell, said she felt a lot calmer now that it was all over: “I don’t feel as sick now. I’ve already bought tickets to a wedding fair in Birmingham for Saturday.

“My mum text me and said ‘thank goodness he said yes!’”

Mr Brooks added: “My mum was in tears, I’m an only child and she’s had to wait 40 years.”

The couple are now planning to tie the knot in Oxfordshire sometime in 2017.

Mr Brooks joked: “I won’t make her wait 12 years again.”