Oyez, oyez! Will you marry me? The wind and rain during Saturday's Keighley Day celebrations could not dampen the spirits of one town councillor after he proposed to his partner through Keighley's town crier.

Laycock and Braithwaite councillor John Philip, who was in town overseeing the Keighley Day activities, had planned to pop the question to partner Ann Marsden over a candlelit meal that evening.

But when he saw town crier Mike Walton, in the Airedale Centre, his spontaneous side took over.

He said: "I was going to do it in the more traditional way during the meal, but I saw Mike and thought 'blow it, let's go for something a bit different'."

Such a request is not uncommon for the town crier.

Mike said: "I usually get some kind of notice so I can find out something about the couple, but this was an off-the-cuff thing.

"I was in the centre doing some cries when Cllr Philip asked me if I would do the honour of asking his girlfriend to marry him.

"I would have made a proper rhyming cry if I'd have known. I made something up as I went along. I can't for the life of me remember what I said, but it did the trick."

Mike said dozens of Keighley Day revellers witnessed the proposal and it went down very well.

Cllr Philip, 45, said the surprise proposal very nearly did not happen.

He said: "I had all sorts of problems trying to meet the 1.30pm deadline I had made with Mike. The terrible weather and the kids wanting to get their faces painted nearly stopped me getting there on time."

He added: "When we got there and Mike said my name I could see Ann looking confused as to why I would feature in one of his cries. She'd not an inkling."

Ann, a lunch-time supervisor at Laycock Primary School, said: "I had no idea it was coming. I was gob-smacked, really shocked. But I said yes there and then."

Cllr Philip, who lives at Shann Crescent, has been with Ann, 30, for nearly four years.

The couple have worked together at the Keith Thompson Centre, in Braithwaite, for the past five years.

John has two children from a previous marriage and Ann has a daughter from a past relationship.

John said: "It's about time I made an honest woman out of her. It just seemed to be the best way to do it and it certainly quietened Ann for the rest of the day."

As for a date for the big day, John said: "We've not decided on that yet."