Teacher Ashleigh Williams got more than she bargained for when a family friend bid £85 to win her a date with a soldier at a charity auction – she found true love.

Almost five months later she and 22-year-old Aidan Wells are inseparable and making long-term plans for the future.

The 24-year-old, from Drivefields in Lower Penn, said today: “I tried to laugh it off when one of my neighbours started bidding on my behalf.

“It was so embarrassing when he won and I had to go on stage to be introduced to my dinner date.

“I lost the free meal voucher so he had to pay – we got on so well that when I found the voucher, we went out again and things have developed from there.”

Aidan, from Penn, a private in 3rd Battalion The Mercian Regiment for three years, said: “It was a fundraising event for the regiment and as I didn’t have a girlfriend at the time, I was happy to go along with the idea for a laugh.

“We clicked straight away – she is the girl for me.”