A 14-strong syndicate of tradesmen is celebrating scooping £85,248 on the National Lottery.

Known as The North Kenton Lads Syndicate, the group from Newcastle City Council includes plumbers, joiners and bricklayers who all work at the City Works Depot, in Benwell.

The syndicate matched five numbers plus the bonus ball in Saturday's Lotto draw.

Syndicate leader Brian Allen, 50, a plumber, discovered they had won during a meal out on Saturday night.

He said: "I was in a Chinese restaurant in town with my wife, Karen, in the middle of our meal when Don, a fellow syndicate member, phoned to tell me we had won.

"I was absolutely shocked and couldn't finish the rest of my food, so I asked the waiter to bring another bottle of wine instead to celebrate."

The syndicate members have already started to plan how to spend their windfall, with home improvements high on the list of priorities for some, and others considering holidays and new cars.

The syndicate has been playing Lotto since it formed in 1996 and the members select their own numbers from a range of birthdays and anniversaries.