IT can fire a shell 10 miles, power its hulking 61.5 tons across rough terrain at 30mph and drink up to four gallons of fuel per mile.

But under Dorset's azure skies the mission today for the very tank that led the British forces into action in the 1991 Gulf conflict was one of love not war.

Former Army tank man Lee Taylor made it a memorable moment when he proposed to his fiance.

He took her out in Gulf War commander General Denaro's Challenger 1 tank and focused the long range sights on a distant banner.

Unsuspecting Charlotte Perkins peered through the viewfinder and saw a homemade sign proclaiming "Char Will U Marry Me."

Swept off her feet in the tank's command turret she said yes to her romantic suitor as Lee produced a stunning triple diamond engagement ring.

As they clambered down from the tank an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne and glasses was offered by Bovington Tank Museum's Nik Wyness.

Charlotte, 26, had no inkling of the proposal until she saw the sign.

The couple met four years ago when were both Army Cadet instructors.

The spent the Bank Holiday weekend camping and ended up at the tank museum in Purbeck where Lee arranged for them to take a ride in a Challenger 1 tank.

Now a HGV driver, Lee occasionally drove tanks while serving as a mechanic with the Army's 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.

He wanted Charlotte to experience a ride in a Challenger and decided it would provide an ideal chance to propose.

"I've been planning this for four or five months. The Challenger is a bit of my past Charlotte did not know about and I wanted to show her," said Lee, 30.

During their camping trip Lee hid the Trilogy engagement ring.

When they reached Bovington Tank Museum yesterday he left Charlotte in the Gauntlet restaurant while he popped out to secretly make sure everything was going to plan.

Museum staff tied his proposal banner to a fence at the far end of a display field and a van was parked in front to hide it until the right moment.

With visitors watching an armoured vehicle display, Charlotte and Lee clambered onboard the Challenger tank and whizzed around the arena.

The tank took up position on a make-shift bridge to test its long range sights and the parked van was driven away to reveal the "Marry Me" sign.

Charlotte said: "I looked through the sights and thought 'Oh My God'. I didn't know anything about it. I thought he might propose to me next year, but he is a very romantic person and it's the sort of thing he'd do."

The couple, who live in Torquay, have yet to arrange a wedding date - mode of transport for the big day is, as yet, also unknown.

First published: August 30