A THEATRE audience went wild when a brave Romeo jumped on stage in the middle of a performance and proposed to his shocked girlfriend.

People clapped and cheered as embarrassed Jane McCash accepted boyfriend Ian Dickinson's proposal in front of more than 300 people at Pendle Hippodrome Theatre, Colne, on Saturday night.

The shock move came as a complete surprise to everyone - and threw show organisers backstage into a panic.

Ian, a policeman based at Colne, chose a brief interval in a charity performance for the NSPCC by Susan Chippendale School of Dance to pop the question. One of the organisers, Barbara Lincoln said: "We were backstage waiting to go on when we heard the music change to 'Love Changes Everything.' We thought the taped music had gone wrong. Nobody knew what was going on and we were all panicking.

"All the family were there sat in the second row and he just got on stage and proposed to her.

"The audience went wild. They were cheering and shouting and whistling and just going mad. His girlfriend was really embarrassed and she wouldn't go on stage but she accepted and he threw the ring to her."

"He had got permission before the show. He'd said it was his ambition to propose to his girlfriend from on stage.

"People thought it was really sweet and romantic once they'd got over the shock and surprise."

The charity event is expected to raise more than £1,000 for the NSPCC.

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