THEY were not quite on top of the world, but it felt like it to Nichola Bagshaw when her boyfriend proposed to her on top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The couple had just reached the highest point in Africa, at 19, 341ft after five days of climbing, when Jonathan Dixon went down on one knee to propose.

Miss Bagshaw said yes, before they were quickly led down the mountain by their porters.

Miss Bagshaw, 34, said: “We had moved to one side, he got down on one knee and said some lovely words. I got him up quickly and said yes and gave him a big hug and we were both in tears. All my friends later said how exciting and romantic it was.”

Mr Dixon, 33, an accountant from Essex, said: “I had wanted to propose for months. We booked the trip quite early and I thought there was no better place to propose. Reflecting on the wonderful experience and thinking about the climb, it was unreal.”

They have yet to set a date for the wedding.

The couple, who met 14 months ago through an online dating site, climbed Kilimanjaro, on the border of Tanzania and Kenya, to raise money for Help for Heroes.

Miss Bagshaw is now a physiotherapist at Headley Court, in Surrey, where she treats injured troops. She grew up in Hurworth, near Darlington, where her father, Ian, is the village GP and her mother, Victoria, helps run the surgery.

The couple both said it had been lifelong ambitions of theirs to climb Kilimanjaro.

The two-week trip took place last month and included a week’s safari in Kenya.

They trained by climbing Britain’s highest peaks, but neither had been above 8,000ft before.

After starting out for the top at 11.30pm on day four, they arrived at the summit at 8am the following morning.

Both had suffered from altitude sickness during the trek, and because of the shortage of oxygen, walkers are only given ten minutes before starting the descent.

They took photographs, including one with their Help for Heroes mascot Henry, before Mr Dixon took Miss Bagshaw to one side to propose, where one of the porters took another photograph to capture the moment.

They have already raised more than £2,000. To sponsor them, go to justgiving.com/ kilimanjaro-climb2010