NICOLA Warner certainly jumped on board when her boyfriend decided to propose.

Her childhood sweetheart, Ittan Rose (22), of Salford, had known for a while that he would like to pop the question to 20-year-old Nicola, of Sergeants Lane, Whitefield. But he wanted to make it extra special, and a day they would both remember fondly.

So, instead of simply getting down on one knee, he hired a double decker bus to take the lovebirds on a tour around all the places in the area that mean so much to them.

The bus pulled up outside her house at 10am on Monday and a gobsmacked Nicola climbed aboard.

The couple, who have been going out for five-and-a-half-years, had talked about getting engaged and Nicola thought he might propose sometime soon.

She said: "I was in the garden with my mum and we heard a beep at the front of the house. We both went round to see what it was, and I couldn't believe it. Ittan was standing on the top deck with a bunch of flowers. My mum just stood there with her mouth open."

The first stop was King David's School, Cheetham Hill where the pair met, moving on to Cooper Street in the city centre of Manchester where they had their first kiss at a club that used to be called Oscar's. It was then off to Tatton Park where the couple had enjoyed their one year anniversary of being together. And it was there, in the Italian Gardens that Ittan finally revealed his secret plan, and popped the question: and Nicola accepted.

She said: "I was crying when Ittan asked me, and I said 'yes' before he had even finished. The bus left us at Tatton park and we drove home in Ittan's car which his dad had left there for us. All my family were waiting for us when we got back. They are so happy."

Nicola and Ittan plan to get married next year and are now busy making plans.