A South Derbyshire man's romantic proposal in Italy to his partner has captured the hearts of thousands of strangers - with more than 12,000 views on the worldwide web.

The video by Andrew Gates shows the run-up to the proposal and the moment he decided to ask his now fiancée, 27-year-old Elivia Frixou, to marry him.

The 28-year-old from Melbourne told the Derby Telegraph he had been planning the proposal since September and “couldn’t believe” the video had received such a massive response.

He said: “I post a lot to Snapchat and I decided to just take videos throughout the holiday and the run-up to the day I proposed. I knew that she wouldn’t suspect anything if I filmed it.

Andrew Gates and his fiancée Elivia Frixou

“With special occasions like this, I thought it would be great to have it to come back to, especially after we get married, but also so I can show other people.

“When I put it all together, I just knew I had to share it online but I didn’t expect the response that I got from it. People have been saying how it's made them cry and laugh. I can't believe it."

He got down on one knee

The video starts by showing Andy just a day before his flight to Portofino in Italy as he prepares himself for the big day and continues until the very moment he proposes to Elivia.

The couple, who originally met on Tinder, went away for three days with Andy proposing at the Da I Gemelli restaurant on March 24.

Andy said the whole process took him months to plan. The entire holiday was a surprise and he even had a custom ring made specially for Elivia.

The footage has been viewed more than 12,000 times

He added: “I knew that I couldn’t just book a holiday because she would suspect I would be asking her to marry her so I planned the whole thing in secret.

“I originally planned to go to the Philippines but Elivia didn’t like the sound of it so I looked elsewhere. That’s when my boss told me about Portofino.

“So I told her that my boss had booked the holiday but couldn’t go so all we had to do was book the flights, so we basically had a free holiday. That way she had no idea what was going on."

Andy added that the couple hope to get married at Melbourne Church in August 2020.