THE 'frogman' father jailed for stealing golf balls from a course lake is celebrating his release by putting wedding plans into full swing!

Mark Collinson, 36, of Canterbury Street, Chorley, has been re-united with his partner Annette Jolly and their children Shaun, 16, and Gemma, 11, after being freed on bail pending his appeal against conviction.

And he has just accepted a proposal of marriage from Annette -- his childhood sweetheart.

The six-month sentence Mark received at Leicester Crown Court provoked a national outcry, with leading golfers and even the Prime Minister expressing their concern.

Mark, who arrived back in Chorley last week, said: "I understand Tony Blair has been involved and my MP Lindsay Hoyle, but just my family and my friends have been brilliant."

Mark is now writing to those strangers who took time to offer their support to him -- messages which managed to get to him during the 10 days he was two to a cell in Welford Prison.

He said: "I was very low. I read a letter from my daughter and I started crying.

"Reading Gemma's letter made me contact my family."

Mark toured the country collecting lost golf balls and claimed he was acting under the unwritten rule of the golf course that they were 'finders keepers.'

But he was pulled up at a course in Leicestershire and jailed for six months after being found guilty of theft.

Annette, Mark's partner for 18 years, said: "It's been chaotic and great to have him back home.

"I proposed to him on Friday and he accepted. It was the right time."

Ken Collinson, 63, Mark's father, said: "It is great to have him home again.

"I don't know how long it will be for. But everyone was overjoyed to see him.

"We now have to hope that everything turns out all right."

Mark, who started his golf ball retrieving business 'MC Golf Balls' in 1996, earned about £14,000 a year from it and declared tax.