Syndicate of women celebrate Christmas Lottery win

The top prize in the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery was won by a syndicate of 40 women from Guernsey

Members of a syndicate who won the top prize in the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery have described the win as "surreal".

The winning ticket was sold in Guernsey for the second year in a row and the prize was £500,000.

The ticket was held by a syndicate of 40 women, who each take home £12,500.

Judith Tolcher, from the syndicate, said: "It's quite surreal - it's still sinking in to all of the 40 of us who were in it."

Fay Boyd, also from the syndicate, added she checked her ticket "about 30 times and I still couldn't believe it".

"It's just the fact it's a group of us and it's not just the one winner.

"There's 40 times more the fun rather than just one person."

The syndicate has been going for about nine years and it is the first time they have won.

Each member purchased five tickets, which were shared with the group.

Proceeds from the lottery go towards community groups and charities across the Channel Islands.

Jon Taylor, the lottery's presiding officer, said ticket sales were down by about 6% on 2022.

He said the increased cost of living was a factor.

"We still have the same number of people buying tickets, it's still very popular, they just don't buy as many," he said.