WHEN Dave Wilson decided to propose to his girlfriend, he wanted to do more than go down on one knee.

So, instead, he threw himself off the top of Liverpool Cathedral — as part of a charity abseil event. Halfway down the cathedral’s 100-foot tower, Mr Wilson popped the question to his girlfriend of four years, Clare Bevan.

He told the Liverpool Echo: “I had been thinking about proposing for a few months, but I had been trying to think of the right time and the right place. When the chance came up to do the abseil, and I knew we would be doing it together, I thought: ‘That’s it.’”

Miss Bevan had signed them up to the abseil in aid of the Legacy Liverpool campaign, which encourages Liverpudlians to leave a gift in their will to charities and voluntary organisations across Merseyside.

Mr Wilson waited until he was half-way down the tower before saying: “Can I ask you a question?”

Miss Bevan said: “At first I asked if he was joking . . . but then I said ‘Yes’. I was shocked but delighted. We had been away walking in the Peak District the week before, and, in the calm and relaxation, I would have thought he’d have asked me then — not when we were trussed up like chickens, harnessed, and hanging in the air from a rope. But it means I won’t ever forget it.”

The cathedral holds charity abseils each summer. A cathedral spokesman said this week: “We are thrilled for both Dave and Clare. Our abseil is a well-established charity event with lots of fun for participants: this delightful story adds some icing on the cake.

“The cathedral has seen many proposals over the years — on the top of our tower is popular — but this one probably takes the biscuit. We wish Dave and Clare every blessing as they prepare for their special day.”