WITH romance in the air this weekend, The Argus hit the streets of Brighton to look for love in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.

And we found our fair city is a hotbed of romance, from the Sussex couple who are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary this year to the young students from Paris who only found romance after moving here.

Brandishing a dozen red roses, Argus reporter and budding Romeo Joel Adams went in search of the most charming – or unlikely – love stories.

He then awarded a red rose to the 12 best.

Throughout this weekend’s special Valentine’s edition of the paper you can read the tales of love.

They range from a proposal at a Kylie Minogue concert to a marriage which started as a blind date with a chaperone and a relationship in honour of a lost friend.

One couple were even shopping for an engagement ring when we pounced on them.

Peter Robbins got down on one knee to propose to Anita Hall last weekend – after just three months of being together.

He said: “It was instantly like we’d known each other for ever. I thought I’d be single for ever and it took until I was 51 to realise that it really can happen.”

Anita said: “When you know, you know. And everyone has said we’re just obviously so right together, they’ve started calling us Panita, like Brangelina.”

Not everyone found themselves lost in the Valentine’s spirit though.

Level-headed Samantha, from Hastings, told us about her other half: “He asked me to marry him last night but I’m still thinking about it.

“It depends how many of my friends I find out he’s dated.”

Valentine’s Day brings out the inner Romeo and Juliet in most of us.

So much so that according to research by Allianz Insurance, most Brits spend around £65 on their other half for February 14.

For those feeling more serious about romance, the average spend on an engagement ring is £573 – rather less than the month’s salary recommended by the diamond industry.

And don’t forget, 2016 is a special one for loved-up couples.

Tradition has it that, being a leap year, women can get down on one knee and ask for their partner’s hand in marriage on February 29.