Soldier leaves marriage proposal – on wrong number

A soldier in Afghanistan left an emotional answerphone message proposing to his girlfriend – only to have dialled the wrong number.

The mysterious armed serviceman spent 90 seconds leaving the heartfelt message for his beloved Samantha.

But he accidentally dialled the wrong number and ended up proposing to 44-year-old Diane Potts from Gateshead in Tyne and Wear.

On the recording, the soldier said: “I love you so much, I love you with all my heart and I was going to ask you… don’t answer… obviously you can’t answer. But, will you marry me?”

“I don’t know what to say babes. I can’t wait till you give birth to my baby, my little soldier. I’ll do everything in my heart and I’ll try my hardest to fight to protect you.

“I love you with all my heart. Don’t ever forget that. I love you alright Samantha? I love you. Bye bye.”

The race is on to identify the squaddie – who spoke with a north-east accent – and his pregnant girlfriend, who is thought to live in the same area as Diane.

Speaking to Sky News, Diane said: “I just felt really quite emotional when I heard it.

“It was just so lovely. I got a bit of a shock actually. I felt like I shouldn’t really be listening, it was such a personal message so I just had to do something about it.

“I emailed the media to see if anybody could pick it up and do something about.

“He had a regional accent but we’re not sure if he lives up here so it’s great to get coverage and find her.

“We just really want to find her.”

A British Army spokeswoman said: “It’s a very personal message and he’s probably a little embarrassed about what he’s done, and about the publicity surrounding it.

“Knowing soldiers, he’ll probably want to avoid any publicity if he can.”