DUE to spend her last Valentines Day as an unmarried person, a loved-up Exmouth woman has been speaking about the shock of how her fianc� proposed.

Debra Sinclair, of Birch Road, was stunned when her partner, Simon Standbury, got down on one knee after the Christmas Day swim.

The 31-year-olc mechanic, after taking part in the swim, walked back onto the beach to meet Debra, bent down and revealed a message, with the words ‘will you marry me?’ written on his chest with a marker pen.

Simon also presented her with a glittering engagement ring.

The couple are due to marry in August next year – to coincide with their tenth anniversary.

“I did not have a clue about what he was about to do. I was so shocked,” said Debra.

She joked: “He is not really a romantic kind of guy. Everybody thinks he is after what happened at the Christmas Day swim but that was probably the most romantic thing he’s ever done.

“He had been talking about proposing to me since last November – so it was about time!”

Debra said the proposal drew a lot of attention from other people who were at the event.

“There were a lot of people who gathered and were taking pictures.”

The pair plan to marry at Withycombe Church.