Bingo! Maria's £51,000 is good news for family

Maria Jones won her prize at the DeLuxe Pier Club in Hastings.

The 63-year-old, who is originally from Portugal, said: "I never thought this would happen to me but it did.

"It was a real shock but a nice one.

"I don't know how I drove home that night.

"I rang my husband from the club and told him I had just got 51,000.

"He couldn't believe it any more than me. When I got home he was jumping up and down with me.

"We are a huge family and I want to take the whole family to Portugal soon, probably at the end of August, before my mum is too old.

"Winning this money means it will make life more comfortable for us and we can do a few things that we want.

"Even though we have our pensions, you still have to be sensible.

"But we can have a few luxuries for the house and garden now. Being able to treat the family is the nicest thing of all."

Maria, who retired from the health service, now works for a mental health charity part-time.

She and her husband, Tudor, 54, who has his own pipe fitting company, have two sons and a daughter and 11 grandchildren.

Maria joined the DeLuxe Club when it moved to Hastings Pier in 2002 and plays there up to four times a week.

She won the National Bingo Game prize of 50,000, plus the Regional prize of 1,003 and the club prize of 80.

The main prize was 100,000 but she had to share with a woman from Margate.