WORTHING has hit the lottery jackpot again.

A woman has scooped £173,312, making her the latest in a long line of lottery winners from the town.

But the un-named winner nearly missed out on her big prize and it was only thanks to quick-witted newsagent Yax Patel that she is in the money.

When she handed in her National Lottery ticket to Mr Patel at Worthing News, Shelley Road, she thought she had only five correct numbers, giving her a prize of around £2,000.

But eagle-eyed Mr Patel, 30, noticed she also had the bonus ball, taking her total up to more than £170,000.

Mr Patel said the customer, who comes into his shop twice a week, was shocked but delighted by her surprise win.

He said: "She was so grateful to me for pointing out the bonus ball, but I think the size of her win shocked her,

"She was quite overwhelmed by it and kept thanking me. But I don't expect her to reward me.

"I'm just pleased one of my customers has had a big win. Worthing is a very lucky town."

This is the second time one of Mr Patel's customers has won a big prize - another scooped around £200,000 two years ago.

But unfortunately he hasn't enjoyed the same luck himself.

He said: "I do the lottery myself but I'm not very lucky. Perhaps I should give my tickets to my customers to fill out!"

Worthing has been described as the luckiest lottery town in Britain, and previous winners include;

Former cabbie Alec Bain, from Durrington, who scooped £4.8 million.

Car sprayer John Myles, who won £3.75 million.

Grandad George Gevauz-Ross, who took home £1.1 million.

Fruit and veg wholesaler Mike Morley, who won £5.5 million.

Fifteen regulars at the Tudor Tavern, East Preston, who split £3.6 million between them.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.