Pensioner calls full-house in lucky scoop on bingo

5:18pm Monday 22nd August 2005

AFTER 45 years of playing bingo, an 81-year-old Watford great grandmother says she has got her money back at last, having won more than £20,000 at the Mecca Club in King Street.

The winner, who wants to remain anonymous, won a new National Bingo Game called Afternoon Delight, which was launched last month and will feature a £20,000 top prize every afternoon, from Monday to Friday.

As well as the £20,000, she won a £548 regional prize and the club prize of £33, having completed a full house in 40 numbers, the fewest calls anywhere in 500 clubs playing nationwide.

"I remember queuing outside the bingo club the night it first opened in Watford. It was called the Essoldo then," she said. "We used to play bingo three or four evenings a week when my husband was alive. I just play two afternoons a week now.

"My family come first and I will split the money three ways with my sons and everyone will get something," she added.