Sheffield romantic who hired billboard in search for love issues update ahead of Valentine's Day

More than 2,200 people applied for a date with Mark Rofe, after he paid £425 for a 3m by 6m poster beside a busy Manchester Road promoting himself to potential suitors.

The 30-year-old, who works in marketing and lives in Sheffield city centre, has now started trawling through those applications as he continues his search for love – and he is convinced the ‘one’ is among those who have already been in touch.

“I’ve gone through the first 100 applications and I’m trying to arrange my first date for Valentines Day,” he said in a series of updates on Twitter.

“I’ve left things late, but I’m hopeful I can arrange something for Friday.

“I still can’t quite believe the response I’ve had from people wanting to date me. Honestly thank you so much.

“I think the best way for me to filter through them is to go through them bit by bit. So I will get to everyone’s applications.

“I’m going to be shutting off applications via the website soon too.

“This was never about how many people I could get to apply, and I’m confident the ‘one’ is among the people that have applied already.”

The billboard featuring a photo of Mark stretched out above the words 'Date Mark' in giant letters directed people to the website DatingMark.co.uk, where they could find out more about him and apply for a date.