A WOMAN was relieved that the sale of her house had not been completed sooner - after she won the £25,000 Postcode Lottery jackpot.

Jacqueline Middleton, 53, of Lilac Road, Ferryhill, in County Durham, became the 18th winner of the Lottery yesterday.

Her win came only days before she was due to move house - and change postcodes - proving again that the DL postcode is the luckiest in the region.

Mrs Middleton, who is a nurse, said: "I was going to swap this postcode ticket with my new one when I moved, so the timing is very good.

"This is the most I have ever won in my life. The only other thing I have won is a dog basket. My friends in my street will be so disappointed they don't have tickets, since they would have won too. I shall make sure everyone I know buys a ticket from now on."

In winning the jackpot, Mrs Middleton became the sixth winner from the DL district so far. She plans to put her winnings towards her new house, but will stay in the same postcode area because she is moving to Darlington.

Nearly 250 of her neighbours will also have a good start to their weekend, with each winning £40, for being in the winning district of DL17.