1 in 3 Brit girls ‘to take leap year advantage to propose to their partner’

London: This leap year could see a few more couples walking down the aisles as more than a third single girls in Britain are planning to propose to their partners today, according to a new survey for the British Heart Foundation.

A poll by PopCap Games divulged that nearly half of men would accept a marriage proposal. However, the survey for 3 Mobile revealed that a quarter of men fear a proposal. Legend has it that the tradition of women popping the question on February 29 was first decreed by St Patrick in 5th Century in Ireland. According to Scottish tradition, in 1288 Queen Margaret passed a law ordering that men who denied proposals had to pay a fine by giving the woman a kiss, gloves or a silk dress. One tradition tells women planning to propose to wear a red petticoat to give men a chance to do a runner, the Daily Star reported. ANI