A cabbie has become the third North-East taxi driver in eight weeks to scoop the National Lottery jackpot.

Ken Graham, 62, picked up a £625,483 share in Saturday's £4.3m jackpot prize.

His win comes weeks after Bob Frazer, 58, won £14m on the Lotto Extra, on April 19, and John Henderson, 41, collected £553,639, on May 10.

Both are also taxi drivers on Tyneside.

However, unlike his fellow winners, Mr Graham intends to carry on cabbying.

He said: "Being a Tyneside cabbie has become the luckiest job in the world."

The three drivers all covered the same patch, picking up customers around Newcastle's busy Quayside and Bigg Market areas every weekend.

Mr Graham, who lives in Gateshead, revealed he has had his hands on this kind of cash before - in his previous job as a bank note printer.

The married father-of-four took early retirement six years ago after 40 years in the print industry.

Mr Graham, who is married to Linda, 55, is known as the "flying jukebox" in the taxi trade because of the tunes he plays for his customers.

His winning numbers were 2, 5, 6, 17, 18 and 30, which he chose using family birthdays.

His work syndicate won two £10 prizes in the same draw.