Bournemouth lottery: Tickets go on sale

The lottery has been set up to provide funds for good causes in the seaside town

Tickets for a weekly lottery, with a jackpot fixed at £25,000, set up to help charities and voluntary groups in Bournemouth have gone on sale.

Bournemouth Borough Council, which set up the lottery, said it will provide funds "in a time of shrinking budgets and increased community need".

Of the £1 ticket price, 60% will go to local causes with the rest put into the prize fund and running costs.

About 50 groups have applied to receive a share of the funds.

Groups already registered for lottery funding include the Jon Egging Trust - a charity set up in memory of the Red Arrow's pilot, the Samaritans, Bournemouth Sea Cadets and Royal Marine Cadets and Guides.

The first weekly draw is due to take place on 2 March with a jackpot fixed at £25,000.

The four-and-a-half week run-up to the first draw is to promote the scheme.

Unlike the National Lottery, there is no rollover and the prize is not split - if 20 people match the six digit winning combination they will all win the £25,000 jackpot, a spokeswoman for the lottery said.

The pool of numbers that players have to choose from are between zero and nine - the odds of winning the jackpot are one million-to-one.

The BH Coastal lottery is being run jointly by the council and external provider Gatherwell which already runs a similar scheme for Portsmouth City Council.