A roofer proved he had all the right moves when he proposed to his girlfriend with a choreographed flashmob in a packed shopping centre.

While most shoppers were busy worrying about last minute gift buying, Dan Hawkins was running through his specially-designed dance routine to pop the question to his girlfriend Laura Howse.

The 28-year-old enlisted the help of more than 30 friends to help him propose to his girlfriend of two years in Shoreham’s Holmbush Shopping Centre on Saturday at 1pm.

Having led Miss Howse, a special constable with Sussex Police, out of Tesco, he and his helpers, who had rehearsed the moves a week before, then began his dance moves to Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Mr Hawkins said the proposal could “not have gone better”.

He said: “I don’t really know why I came up with this.

“I thought about just going out to dinner and doing it then but I felt it needed it to be a bit bigger and out there.

“Laura was very emotional, crying.

“She didn’t say anything when I asked the question, she just kissed me and then we had a cuddle.”

Mr Hawkins enlisted the help of Jonny Stewart, Miss Howse’s zumba instructor and flashmob veteran, to choreograph the engagement shuffle.

Mr Hawkins said: “She never thought I would do anything like this, I don’t dance normally.

“I was very nervous beforehand, more nervous about getting the right answer then remembering my dance moves.”

The pair, who live in Whitelot Close in Southwick, have been going out for two years after meeting on social media website Facebook.

They hope to have a wedding ceremony in November next year and friends have been telling them they will have to come up with a new dance to mark the occasion.