London, March 16: A romantic and highly original way to propose with a £6,000 diamond ring has been blown away.

Lefkos Hajji, 28, wanted to make his engagement one his girlfriend would never forget, only to have his dreams cruelly snatched from his grasp by a gust of wind.

Rather than simply dropping to one knee before Leanne, 26, he told a florist to put her engagement ring in a silver helium balloon. But no sooner had he left the shop when his plan backfired and the balloon blew away — taking the ring with it.

Keeping his prize in sight, Hajji, from Hackney, London, pursued the balloon for two hours in his car across London before giving it up as lost.

“I couldn’t believe it. I just watched as it went further and further into the air. I felt like such a plonker. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me.” he said

While Hajji hopes the ring will still turn up, his girlfriend, as he suspected, was apparently less than impressed.