Despite the February 29 tradition, however, a new survey by a Wrexham company shows that men still think it is their job to do the asking.

In the poll by the Wrexham Wedding Directory, 52 per cent of respondents said that they would not like a woman to propose to them, while 40 per cent said that they would be happy for a woman to proposed and eight per cent said they would never get married.

The older the respondent, the more likely they were to like the idea of being proposed to, with three quarters of those in the 35-49 age group saying that they would be happy for a woman to propose.

The leap year tradition allegedly started in fifth century Ireland when St Bridget complained to St Patrick about women having to wait for so long for a man to propose. According to legend, St Patrick said the yearning females could propose on this one day in February, during the leap year.

According to English law, February 29 was ignored and had no legal status. Because of this, people assumed that traditions would also have no status on that day.