A romantic chess player drove 1,500 miles to Romania to propose to his long-distance girlfriend - and luckily for him she said yes.

After the arduous journey Paul Kelly, 47, went down on bended knee and asked for Simona Elena Jecan's hand in marriage.

It was a nerve-jangling moment for Mr Kelly who produced a single-diamond 18ct gold engagement ring a day after arriving at Simona's mother's house in Gherla.

Mr Kelly, from St Leonards, said: "I wanted to take her on a long drive somewhere and propose to her but my mobile phone had been stolen.

"I had horrible visions of driving for miles then breaking down somewhere so I decided to propose in her bedroom when the time was right. It was a lovely moment."

From Romania, Simona said: "I was surprised when he proposed but of course I said yes. I liked the ring very much. Paul was very emotional and I was too."

Mr Kelly and 32-year-old former maths teacher Simona met nine years ago at a chess tournament in Budapest, Hungary.

After Mr Kelly had finished a contest in the early hours, he went to have a late-night coffee.

He said: "I was walking back to my guest house at 3am and spotted Simona drinking coffee.

"I was absolutely knocked out by her looks and I thought to myself, Let's go and say hello'. She is a very beautiful young woman, we got talking and she watched me play chess the following day."

But the relationship petered out after Simona had problems obtaining a UK visa. She was unable to visit her boyfriend and they lost touch.

However, six months ago Simona e-mailed Mr Kelly out of the blue after tracing his address through an internet search.

Mr Kelly, who has never married, said: "Her question to me was, Are you the Paul Kelly I knew several years ago?'.

"It was obvious she wanted to renew acquaintances with me so I thought, why not? I was pretty unhappy with my life at the time being single."

After a series of phone calls and e-mails, Mr Kelly spent five days in Gherla in September and the relationship blossomed.

Mr Kelly, who runs a shop called Mind Sports selling books, board games and computer software in Norman Road, St Leonards, hopes they will make Sussex their home.

However, securing Simona a UK visa could take two years.

Simona said: "I would like us to marry in England because it would be something new and something different."