Teenage romances usually fizzle out when the school years are over – but one man proposed to his sweetheart in the classroom where they first met.

Sam Moore met Natalie Jones in the art classroom of Mount Grace School, in Church Road, Potters Bar twelve years ago when they were just 11 years old.

They became an item at the age of 15 and their form teacher, Mr Page, would jokingly call Natalie ‘Mrs Moore’ when taking the register.

And eight and a half years later, Sam, an advertising manager, devised a plan to lure his girlfriend back to the classroom where it all began.

He told her he had been to the school to pick up some advertising proofs for his work but that he had accidentally locked his keys in the car.

When she arrived to give him a spare, he told her he was talking to their old form tutor in their classroom.

Mr Moore, 24, said: “I am not proud of my lies but they were for a good cause, after all.

“I think she knew exactly what was happening when she walked in. She went quiet and I told her to take a seat at her old desk, which had been decorated in candles.

“When she said yes, it was amazing. I wanted to do something a bit more personal and this was a great idea.”

Mr Moore had also set up a slideshow of their years together on the whiteboard.

The couple stayed together throughout university, when Natalie studied for a teaching degree at Bedford and Sam studied advertising at Northampton.

He added: “She is still the same fun person she was back when I first met her, I’m so happy my proposal was a success.”