A BACUP man will be having a very merry Christmas after scooping more than £66,000 in a Lottery win.

And the first thing David Cairns spent his winnings on was a meal at his local Chinese restaurant.

David, who works as a production operative at a packaging company in Stalybridge, was at home with his wife, Judith, 53, when he discovered he had won the £66,388 by matching five numbers and the bonus ball on Saturday, December 2.

He'd bought the ticket at Tesco, Rawtenstall.

He said: "I don't usually get a look-in with the TV on Saturday night because Judith has control of it, but when the draw came on I asked her to leave it on.

"When I saw that I had matched five numbers, I ran into the kitchen to share the good news.

"It was only because Judith told me to go and check the bonus number that I realised I had matched that too."

After ringing his stepsons, Oliver, 21, and Daniel, 27, to tell them the good news, David and Judith celebrated the win by taking their neighbours out for a Chinese meal.

After trying to find the safest place to keep the ticket, David decided to put it in a rather unusual spot.

He said: "I didn't know where to keep the ticket.

"It had been all over the house before it eventually ended up under the dog's basket."

The couple have paid off most of their mortgage with the win, and having learned to scuba dive while on holiday in the Caribbean a few years ago, they now plan to take the plunge and start again.

They also want to holiday in Australia next year.

Oldham-born David said: "Judith has a friend she went to school with who lives over there, and I always promised that if I won the lottery I would take us."

But David, who has been playing the Lotto since it began, said: "Nothing else will really change, it's not a massive fortune, but of course we were very happy about it. The money will stay in the bank for now and we'll think more about it after Christmas."

And his winning streak has not completely stopped - David won a further £10 last Wednesday.

He added: "I've always seen it as just a bit of fun, this was something I never thought would actually happen, but I certainly won't stop now."