A GROUP of workmates from County Durham are celebrating after winning £142,209 on the Lotto draw.

The win softened the disappointment of England's 2-2 draw against Macedonia for syndicate leader Richard Skilton. For it was while watching the match on TV last Wednesday that he realised he and his pals, who all work for engineering firm Solatron ISA in Shildon, were in the money.

He said: "The Lotto numbers flashed up on the television screen as I was watching the match.

"Initially, I thought we had only matched three but when I double-checked our numbers on Teletext, I realised that we had matched five numbers and the bonus ball. I couldn't believe our luck. We weren't able to get confirmation of the win from the National Lottery line until the Thursday morning, so I had a very sleepless night on Wednesday wondering if I had made a mistake.

"However, it was all worth it next morning when confirmation came through and I was able to call the syndicate members together at work to let them know the good news. There was definitely a party mood that day."

Richard is planning to treat himself to a new motorbike while colleague John Cooke intends to use his share to fund a trip to Australia.

The winning ticket was bought at Shildon's North East Co-op. The syndicate also includes Kenneth Balmer, James Cook and Stephen Ellwood. The sixth member declined publicity.