A LOTTERY win is helping a shop owner prepare a huge Christmas party for his staff.

Brian Elder won £56,911 on the Lotto on November 26.

But it took a few days for Mr Elder, who owns a health food company with his wife, Susan, in Hartlepool, to realise.

The couple did not find out until five days later, after Mr Elder, 42, forgot to check the ticket.

He said: "I was just about to leave for work when I remembered I had not checked our tickets.

"I put on Teletext to check the numbers and told Susan I thought we had won. She was just on her way out of the door taking our daughters to school, so she told me to let her know when she got back. She obviously was not confident we had won.

"I doubled-checked and was absolutely delighted."

Mrs Elder, 38, said: "When Brian did not greet me at the door with the good news, I just thought it was a wind-up.

"So when I got into the house and he told me the news I was stunned."

The couple, who have two daughters, Kaisey, eight, and Laurie, seven, are already starting to make plans on how to spend their money - including a Christmas party for staff at Studio Products.

They will also treat their family, as well as plan- ning a holiday to Perth, Australia, to see Mr Elder's sister, Diane.

The winning lucky dip ticket was bought from McColls newsagents, in the Fens Shopping Centre, Hartlepool.