A HOSPICE supporter was one of the first people in the country to drive a new 57-reg set of wheels after winning a charity raffle.

Delia Wastell, of Norton, near Stockton, won the top prize - a Fiat Grande Punto 1.2 - in an annual draw by The Butterwick Hospice.

The raffle raised £25,000 for the charity's adult hospice in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, and adult and children's hospices in Stockton.

This year the charity will need to raise £3.5m to continue its services for patients and their families.

Last week she and husband, Brian, sold their seven-year-old Peugeot 206 before picking up the keys to their new car, at the S G Petch showroom, in Tindale Crescent, Bishop Auckland, on the first day of registration.

Mrs Wastell, who works in the x-ray department at North Tees Hospital, said: "It is wonderful. To get a new car, on the first day of release and by buying just a book of raffle tickets for £10, is great. It is probably something we'd only manage by winning it.

Mrs Wastell, 59, bought the winning tickets by post after reading about the competition in a hospice newsletter.

When she heard her name had been drawn by former Sunderland footballer Gary Bennett, at the North East Motor and Leisure Show, she thought it was a prank.

"I didn't believe it. We were about to go to a party and a lady from the hospice rang to tell me. At first I thought it was a friend joking but then I got her to repeat it twice," said Mrs Wastell.