Lottery player Eddie Akehurst was astonished when staff at a supermarket honoured his £450 winning ticket even though he had not signed it.

Mr Akehurst, 61, of Hogarth Road, Hove, religiously buys his lottery tickets from Tescos, in Station Road, Portslade, and often hands them over to store workers so they can check the numbers.

But he could not believe his luck when a shop assistant told him he had landed a winner three days after handing them in.

Mr Akehurst said: "I buy so many tickets I just hand them over to check.

"I was going to throw these away but I thought I'd give them to three of the girls to check for winning numbers.

"They could so easily have signed the back themselves and I wouldn't have been any the wiser.

"I'd just like to thank them for their honesty."

Mr Akehurst said he was planning on buying flowers for his trusted trio.