A NOTTS magician has performed his biggest trick yet – by helping his friend propose.

Mathew Youngs, 27, of East Bridgford, did a special trick as a way for Matt Davies to propose to his girlfriend.

He said: "At first I thought it was quite a lot of pressure. You can imagine if she had said no – it could have been an awful situation!"

Mr Youngs was asked by his friend, originally from Bingham, to pretend to bump into him and girlfriend Amy in London, where they now live.

Mr Youngs, who does professional performances as a close-up magician, then pretended he was there for a show and nervous about a new trick.

He asked Mr Davies' fiancee-to-be if he could try the trick out on her.

He said: "The talking skills came into play once we got going, and then I started the trick.

"The way the trick worked was it was to do with dreams. I asked Amy to think of a dream, and had a piece of the paper with 'Your dream' written on it. That was meant to represent Matt's dream." He then asked Amy to think of an object and made her choose a ring through subtle hints.

The trick then went through a few more stages, ending with the piece of paper reading 'Will you marry me?'

Mr Youngs said: "I don't know if he got on one knee. At the end of the trick I vanished, if you will excuse the pun.

"It was quite an intimate moment, but I didn't know if she said yes until I saw them later on."

The couple plan to marry in the Lake District next July.