Charles Bronson, the notorious life inmate, has asked his actress girlfriend to marry him, it was reported on Tuesday.

Bronson, 64, often called Britain’s most violent prisoner, went down on one knee when Paula Williamson visited him in HMP Wakefield.

The twice-married armed robber, who had been in jail for 40 years, had planned to make the proposal of Valentine's Day by having a ring delivered to her house and serenading her by phone.