A Dover ferry worker has netted the jackpot in Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance’s superdraw.

P&O Ferries engineer Denis Harper, who lives in Hythe, joined the life-saving charity’s lottery two years ago after a canvasser called at his home.

His lucky numbers based on family birthdays, 2, 16, 21 and 27, came up in Wednesday’s draw and landed him £18,058.

On Friday, the father-of-two visited the helicopter base at Marden with son Joe to collect his cheque.

He said: "I’ve worked on the cross-Channel ferries for more than 27 years and this win will go towards my pension pot.

"My wife and I haven’t really thought about what to spend the money on but we’ll probably use it when we retire.

"When I got the call to say I’d won I thought it would be a couple of hundred pounds, I didn’t realise it would be as much as it was."

The charity’s regular lottery costs £1 a week with 12 weekly winners of amounts ranging from £25 to £1,000.

For an extra £1 a week, players can join the superdraw which has a maximum jackpot of £25,000.

To join the fundraising lottery, call 01622 833833.