A MISTAKE by a Lottery syndicate member's wife, led to a huge cash prize.

Maidstone man Mike Cowdry was part of a six-strong syndicate of London Underground staff which used the same Lotto numbers every week.

But when one of the members' wives was asked to buy the mid-week ticket, she inadvertantly chose 47 as one of the numbers, instead of 49.

Fate had played its hand. Mike Cowdry returned from holiday to discover the mistake had won the group £79,998. Had all gone to plan, the group would have won just £51.

But as it was, each team member - all electrical engineers - walked away with a cool £13,000.

Reflecting on the win, Mr Cowdry said: "When I returned to work, they sat me down and told me the good news. I was very matter of fact about it.

"Of course, I never expected to win and the full facts of what had happened took a while to sink in."

The 60-year-old grandfather of three wants to give some of his winnings to his children and invest the rest in a car and in savings.