PSYCHIC Gary Fowler has had to admit to failure in his attempt to prove the existence of a sixth sense.

The Teesside medium had placed details of a prediction in a sealed envelope which was deposited in a locked safe at The Northern Echo's Darlington offices at the end of last month.

Mr Fowler said the prediction would change the way we view the human mind, and dwarf his achievement last year in correctly forecasting the winner of Celebrity Big Brother.

But, when the envelope was opened last night, he had to admit defeat.

In a note sent to The Echo, Mr Fowler said: "Please inform your readers that my prediction did not happen during the time stated. It's only right that they are informed when I promised."

The prediction, wrapped inside silver paper in the envelope, said: "I, Gary Fowler, predict that I will win the National Lottery main draw three times with the same numbers before Christmas 2003," giving the numbers as 29, 3 and 6."

When the envelope was first placed inside the safe, he said details of the event had been revealed to him by an angel.