MARRIAGE proposals are always special but romantic Ross Doswell's quite literally stopped traffic.

The 29-year-old surprised his girlfriend Carly Richards by proposing through a message written in straw on a Modbury hillside.

The 'Carly marry me?' sign has been visible to hundreds of motorists passing on the A379 for nearly a fortnight and even the recent downpours have yet to remove the straw entirely.

Having been with 26-year-old Carly for four years, Ross decided the time was right to pop the question and enlisted the help of friends and family, including his dad Lance and brother Scott, to set the sign up.

Leading a blindfolded Carly through Modbury the following day, he nervously popped the question and was delighted she said yes.

Ross said: 'I grew up in the town and have many memories of the farmer, Roy Lugger, writing messages in straw on that hill.

'When I decided I was going to propose that was the first idea that I thought of and couldn't get it out of my head.

'Carly and I now live in Leicestershire, so I rang my dad and asked if he thought it possible.

'As it turned out, he had just finished doing some work for Mr Lugger, so he went back and asked him.

'He loved the idea and offered to help with it, along with my brother and dad.

'They spent all of the Friday completing the work and I did the deed on the Saturday.'

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