RESTAURANTS and beaches were too cliché for one romantic man, who decided instead to pop the question and propose to his girlfriend at their former Hendon college.

Last Friday, family, friends and school staff at Brampton College in Lodge Road, helped Nishan Selvamanoharan, 28, surprise his girlfriend Sheena Popat, also 28.

The couple have been going out since meeting at the college in 2000 where they both studied economics.

Wanting to take Sheena by surprise, Nishan picked her up at the investment management company in Holborn where she works.

He then blindfolded Sheena as his best man to-be, Vishnu Dhutia, dressed as a chauffeur and drove the couple to the college.

With her eyes covered, Sheena was guided up the stairs and into their old economics classroom.

Nishan, who works as a risk analyst in Farringdon, said: “This is where it all began ten years ago – and we both studied economics at university so it made sense to come back here.”

Once inside the classroom, Nishan told Sheena, whom he nicknames Batty, to take off the blindfold before popping a balloon filled with confetti over her head.

Turning her round, Sheena read the words "Batty, Will You Marry Me?" in red and white rose petals which had been made by Nishan’s cousins, Tharshini Presanna and Sri Presanna, who are both florists.

Getting down on one knee, Nishan asked Sheena to marry him and she replied: “Of course I will.”

Sheena said: “The room is absolutely beautiful – I would never have guessed he’d be bringing me here – it’s so Nishan, he’s such a romantic.

"I knew we were supposed to be getting engaged, but I thought it would be on Sunday.

"I’d planned my outfit and been practising painting my nails, now I’m just in my work clothes – this was such a surprise."

Nishan said: "I knew I wanted to do something a bit different when I proposed – I’ve been planning this for a really long time."

Bernard Canetti, founder and principle of the college since 1989, said: “I thought it was a really stylish and unusual way for Nishan to propose.

"Not everyone has good memories of school or college so for them to come back here for something so special is really nice."

After leaving the college Nishan whisked Sheena off for a meal at Alain Ducasse, the Michelin-starred restaurant at The Dorchester hotel in London.

The couple will get married on Sunday, March 20 next year at Moor Park Mansion in Hertfordshire.