A Ramsgate supermarket worker whose car had failed its MOT had the surprise of his life – when a new Maserati GranTurismo S turned up on his doorstep.

Darren Gendall, who works nights at Tesco, won the £92,000 Italian super car just days after waving a sad farewell to his own ailing vehicle.

The 46-year-old was down in the dumps when he had to sell his beloved Alfa Romeo for parts because it was riddled with rust.

But his fortunes improved when super car competition company Best of the Best founder Will Hindmarch paid him a visit yesterday.

The father-of-two said he had been watching videos of previous winners online the night before.

He said: "I'm in dream world at the moment. I love cars, especially Italian cars.

"I just sold an Alfa Romeo which I bought as a project to tinker about on, but it had a rusty bottom and I had to sell it for parts.

"I was mortified and really in the doldrums and then this happened at the best possible time."

But Will had another surprise when, after hearing that both Darren and his wife Vicky worked in the local Tesco store, he drove Darren and daughter Abi to the shop to break the news.

"We went in the car to surprise my wife at work," said Darren. "She was in shock, the same as me! It was great though because some of our colleagues came out to see the car and wanted to hear the engine, everyone was buzzing."