A STAFF member at Newton Abbot store Austins got an early Christmas present when her boyfriend proposed.

In a first in the store’s 101 year history, the proposal came as a complete surprise to Chesca department manager Christine Llewellyn.

She said: ‘My boyfriend Dean surprised me while I was working in Austins on Christmas eve.

‘He got down on one knee and proposed, on the shop floor in front of customers and colleagues, and I said yes.’

Dean Griffiths, 56, and Christine, 55, have been together for four years.

They met on an online dating website and their first meeting was at Exeter St David's station.

They then went for a meal for their first date and have been together ever since.

Dean presented Christine with a stunning ring of a diamond set with smaller diamonds.

Stunned Christine said: ‘It was such a complete surprise. I had no idea he was coming into store and

neither did the store.’

Owner David Austin was quick to congratulate the couple and said it was the first time a proposal had taken place in the store’s 101 years.