A student paramedic and a firefighter have announced their engagement after meeting on the Covid-19 front line.

Lauren Biffen and Martin Green met while driving ambulances for South Western Ambulance Service as part of a joint initiative with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Green, a firefighter, had volunteered to support ambulance crews by driving vehicles and working alongside clinicians to provide care to patients in April.

He met Miss Biffen in Shepton Mallet when she was working an overtime shift in June.

The couple recently became engaged and are due to move in to a new home together, along with their two cats and a dog, at the end of March.

Mr Green said: “There was something very special about Lauren. I admire everyone in the NHS for the care, commitment and support they provide.

“Yet I knew immediately Lauren is just one in a million.”

He said it was a “privilege” to work with the ambulance service during Covid-19 as he had joined the fire service to make a difference.

“I am doing a job I believe in and I’ve also met Lauren. I’m the lucky one,” Mr Green added.