Many men may find themselves on the receiving end of a leap year marriage proposal later this month , a survey suggests.

The tradition of women seizing the initiative and proposing on February 29 appears to still be going strong, with more than one in 20 (6%) women surveyed for Nationwide Building Society saying they are planning to propose to their partner at some point this year.

Nearly one in three (30%) women surveyed also said they would consider making a leap year proposal.

More than one in 10 (11%) women surveyed also said they had already asked for their partner's hand in marriage - and just 7% of them were turned down.

Some 7% of women surveyed saw proposing a good opportunity for those who were fed up waiting for their other half to ask them.

As well as interviewing 1,000 women, researchers also carried out a survey of 1,000 men.

Half (50%) of men said they would feel, or had felt flattered, if they received a marriage proposal - but nearly one in 20 (4%) agreed it would make them feel "their luck had run out".