IPSWICH: As wedding proposals go it was quite literally a show-stopping moment.

When Kirsty Lloyd sat down to enjoy a performance of Jack and the Beanstalk at Ipswich’s New Wolsey Theatre on Wednesday night, she was blissfully unaware that come the end of the panto she and her partner Aaron Ripper would be taking centre stage.

Romantic Mr Ripper, 26, had chosen the venue as the perfect place to pop the question to his partner of two and a half years.

The Felixstowe couple were asked to come down on to the stage after the show’s penultimate song. With Miss Lloyd still slightly unaware of what was happening, Mr Ripper bent down on one knee and proposed.

When Miss Lloyd, 24, accepted the audience burst into rapturous applause and the newly engaged couple were congratulated by cast members.

The couple stayed on stage to enjoy a dance to the show’s closing song – Stevie Wonder’s Superstition – before being whisked off for a well-earned drink in the theatre’s bar.

Mr Ripper, who works for MSC Shipping, said: “I got more and more nervous as the show went on and when we were called up on stage my heart was really pounding.

“Thankfully Kirsty said yes and that topped off a great night. It couldn’t have gone any better really.”

Miss Lloyd added: “When I heard our names read out by the MC I thought ‘oh no what’s going on’ and began to get nervous.

“But Aaron and I have been talking about getting engaged so it slowly began to dawn on me. I’m pleased he chose to propose here – it’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

Mr Ripper came up with the idea after getting tickets for the panto through work and decided it would be a unique place to pop the question.

He added: “The theatre staff were keen to go ahead with it and have been really great with us. I’d like to say a big thank you to them. We’ll now have to start thinking about a wedding venue.”

David Watson, duty manager at the theatre, said: “This was the first time in the theatre’s history that we’ve had an on-stage proposal.

“We just thought it was wonderful idea. It gave Aaron and Kirsty the chance to extend a magical evening which they will remember for ever.”

n Have you been proposed to, or popped the question, in an unusual place? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or alternatively you can send an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk