DREAMS certainly do come true, as one Northern Echo reader discovered when he netted thousands of pounds through his favourite newspaper.

Father-of-two Stephen Newton and wife of 15 years, Lynne, regularly enter competitions in The Northern Echo, but the biggest prizes they had won were some DIY vouchers and brandy.

That was until he entered the Dreams Come True competition, run in association with Granada Plus, and correctly answered three questions about the Angela Lansbury series Murder, She Wrote.

The 38-year-old cabinetmaker, from Spennymoor, County Durham, won the top prize of £3,000.

He said: "People have said I am lucky, but we have entered competitions in the paper for years. I have read it for at least 20 years and I think I will stick with it.

"This is a lot of money to win. We have already booked a family holiday to Ibiza for the summer, and this will make sure it is a good one."