PANTOMIME-GOERS witnessed a real life happily ever after when a performer proposed to his on and off-stage girlfriend at the end of the show.

James Murden, 29, from Yate, chose to propose to his girlfriend Charlotte Harris, 29, also from Yate, at the end of a performance of Hansel and Gretel on stage in front of the audience.

Mr Murden got down on one knee in his pantomime costume to propose to his girlfriend of two years on Saturday, January 24 at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall.

Miss Harris said "yes" live on stage in front of an audience of 250 people, after performing alongside her partner as a member of the Sodbury Players.

The couple met when they joined the theatrical group since they were 12 years old and have appeared in many plays and pantomimes together over the last 17 years.

Mr Murden, a presenter for QVC The Shopping Channel, said: "We were playing boyfriend and girlfriend in the show, Agatha and Weiner, and it seemed like the most incredible opportunity to ask the big question and Charlotte didn't have a clue it was coming.

"The majority of the cast and crew had no idea it was going to happen, I had to arrange with the stage manager, lighting team, band etc but everyone was taken by surprise.

"I can't believe I kept the secret for so long, it's been planned for a few months.”

The Sodbury Players group was founded in 1946 in Chipping Sodbury and currently perform three main productions each year, including a pantomime in January.

Miss Harris, who works in pensions at Diligenta in Stoke Gifford, said: “It was the perfect proposal, we've been in so many productions together and it was incredibly special to have all our friends around us.

"James had secretly arranged for all our families to be there and I'll never forget it.

"Everyone has been so lovely, James put the video on Facebook and over 15,000 people had watched it within two days, it's crazy.

“Audience members came up to us after the show and congratulated us and many shed a tear.”

The Sodbury Players meet on Tuesday evenings at The Old Grammar School in High Street in Chipping Sodbury.