GRANDMOTHER Jean Higginbottom got a welcome surprise when she scooped a £500 prize in the Lancashire Telegraph bingo competition.

Mrs Higginbottom, 69, of Turnpike Road, Oswaldtwistle, said she and her husband Raymond, a retired painter and decorator, would put the money towards their annual holiday in Benidorm.

The mother-of-two, who has two grandchildren, said she was thrilled to have won the money.

She said: “I was shocked really. But it was really nice to win some money for a change, especially at this time of year. It has come in really handy.”

Mrs Higginbottom spent most of her working life at the former Royal Ordnance Factory in Blackburn until she was made redundant.