A COUPLE who will soon be proud grandparents, are the lucky winners of the St Richard's Hospice annual car raffle.

Clive and Karen Wilkinson drove off in their new Mazda CX-5 after their raffle ticket 227354 was pulled from 40,000 in the draw at the Worcester hospice on Monday.

Thousands of £1 tickets have been snapped up in the last few months, which has raised £41,000 for the charity.

Mr Wilkinson, of Tividale, Dudley, bought his ticket from a work colleague at Commercial Equipment Ltd n Dudley where he is storeman.

The 54-year is expecting his first grandchild and was looking to upgrade his two-door Renault to a four-door car.

He said: "It's absolutely perfect for us. I bought £5 worth of tickets and it was the best investment.

"I've never won anything before, one of the lads at work whose mum had been cared for by the hospice bought in some raffle books and I wanted to support such a good cause."

Lizzie Brazier, St Richard's fundraiser, said: "We are very grateful to everyone who bought a ticket, particularly in this, our 30th anniversary.

"It's lovely to be able to make the Wilkinsons' day when we called them to tell them they had won."

Ticket sales from the raffle will help raise funds for St Richard's care of patients and their families living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

The raffle was supported by Edwards Motors, Kempsey, and sponsored by Halls Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants, Worcester and Worcester Racecourse.