Lonely hearts get billboard boost

A new way to help single men and women find romance has been unveiled in Oxford.

For £50 a week, romantics can have their faces displayed on a billboard next to a busy road.

The unusual dating initiative offers people the chance to have their photograph and details viewed by potential dates across the city.

The company behind the service say they already have 49 people signed up.

I'm not meeting the right sort of people, the sort I want to meet ... I just thought it would be a good thing to try Janelle

Olga Waters, of lovers2.com, the company behind the service said: "I just can't believe the response we've had - we originally started it just in Birmingham, but now we're in England, Wales, Scotland and, just last week, Ireland."

The company only started erecting the billboards nine weeks ago, and are already operating in 22 cities.

She said around three times as many men as women had signed up, and the average client tended to be between 25 and 40.

Janelle, who moved to Oxford from Birmingham eight months ago, has been single for two years and said she thought it was a great idea.

"I'm not meeting the right sort of people, the sort I want to meet - it's just another way really - I just thought it would be a good thing to try," she said.