A footballer made an unusual move just hours after his daughter's birth by using her first babygrow to propose to her mother.

Hamilton Academical centre-back Georgios Sarris asked maternity staff at Wishaw General Hospital to dress his newborn daughter Nancy in a baby pink onesie with the words 'Mummy will you marry my Daddy?' stitched on the front.

When staff brought her over to the new parents, Georgios got down on one knee and popped the question to his partner of six years Maria.

The Greek defender said: "I had been planning on how I would ask Maria to marry me for ages and I eventually come up with the idea of putting the question on our daughter's first baby grow."

His proposal plans were almost dashed, however, when his daughter was whisked away for observation in the neonatal unit shortly after Maria gave birth.

Sarris said: "We had a nervous wait while Nancy was in the neonatal unit and I was already anxious because of the birth and my planned proposal. I thought that the moment had gone."

Luckily Nancy was given the all-clear and maternity staff agreed to help Georgios with his plan to pop the question.

Neonatal staff dressed baby Nancy, who weighed 6lb 15oz, in her special first outfit.

Sarris said: "I was so happy that the nurses and midwives were prepared to go the extra length to make sure my proposal could work out as planned."

They then placed her in an incubator and wheeled her round to the maternity unit where she was reunited with her mother and father.

"I was really emotional," explains Maria. "To know my daughter was OK and in my arms was a wonderful feeling, I was on top of the world.

"Then I noticed the writing on the babygrow. I looked over and Georgios was on one knee with a ring in his hand. I started to cry all over again but I managed to say yes.

"I will never forget that day as long as I live and I will never forget the staff who helped bring Nancy into the world and make the proposal possible."

Ann Brockett, a maternity care assistant who witnessed the proposal, said: "It was so romantic. In all my years in the maternity unit I have never seen anything like it.

"It was a very emotional time for both Georgios and Maria and a few of us shed a tear, too. They are a lovely family."

The couple, who had married in a registry office in Greece shortly before the birth of Nancy, are now planning a grander Greek Orthodox wedding - with the addition of a very special bridesmaid.

Senior charge midwife Susan Clements said: "We were very happy to help Georgios make his extraordinary proposal to Maria.

"In my 34 years as a midwife, I haven't seen any dad propose to the mother on the ward. It was lovely that our midwives and neonatal staff got a chance to be involved in such a special moment for the new family."