EVERYONE likes a good news story, well that was certainly the case in 1979 when grandmother Glydys Pickering had 18,500 reasons to be happy.

That was because Mrs Pickering of Meadow Street in Great Harwood was presented with a cheque after winning the Lancashire Telegraph's Cross the Ball competition.

And the occasion was made even more special when three of the signing Nolan sisters arrived to hand over the cheque.

The 60-year-old was sharing the prize with her husband and a friend who entered the competition said: "I have not been the same since I was told the news. It has all been a bit of a shock - it will never happen again I shouldn't think."

Mrs Pickering, a canteen assistant at Higham's Great Harwood, and her husband Joseph were looking to use the money to make their holiday dreams come true with a trip to the United States and Canada.