JEN Rendell took a leap of faith and popped the question to her partner.

The lovestruck woman, from Dorchester, proposed to her partner Simon Hardy last night over a moonlit Weymouth Bay.

February 29 is the day when women traditionally turn the tables and ask men to marry them.

Simon, 60, didn’t hesitate before saying ‘yes’ and staff at the Spyglass Inn applauded the newly-betrothed pair.

Unsuspecting Simon was invited to dinner at the Weymouth pub by Jen, 52, who told him she wanted to celebrate going part-time at work.

She said: “I mentioned to a colleague that it was February 29 and said ‘Simon should propose to me’.

“I was told that it should be the woman who proposes, so I decided to do it.

“Romance definitely isn’t dead. Not even when you get older.

“If you’ve found the right person then you don’t have to work at it.

“We plan to be in an old people’s home together.”

The couple, who met while working at Dorchester Prison, have been together for eight years.

Simon said: “I didn’t have a clue what was happening.

“I got up to go and get the drinks and I saw Jen coming round to talk to me and everyone looking.

“I never had a moment of hesitation before saying ‘yes’.

“Being proposed to by a woman makes me feel great. You have to make the best of the time you have.

“However hard things get, if you are with the right person, it does mean that things are easier to cope with and that’s what we do.”

This will be the second marriage for both Jen and Simon, who each have two sons.

“You just don’t know what’s around the corner,”

Simon said.

“As long as you’re not too old to read the vows then it really doesn’t matter,” he added.

As Jen got down on bended knee, her son Alex, 26, looked on.

He said: “I think my mum is crazy. She told me what she was about to do a few minutes before it happened and I was shocked.

“I’m really happy for them.”

Simon said: “We are both working part-time now and we are going to enjoy life a bit more now we have more time to do things.”

This is the second big romantic gesture Jen has made.

Simon said: “Last year for my 60th she surprised me by taking me away to where I was born and we had a Morgan car to drive around the Cotswolds. I had no idea she was going to do it.”

The couple, who celebrated with champagne, plan to tie the knot in the Caribbean in September accompanied by family.

The Dorchester Prison workers will throw a wedding party for their extended family and friends on their return.