Tory candidate is 96

A 96-year-old woman standing in this week’s council elections has vowed to stand up for the elderly and for teachers if she wins a seat.

Florence Kirkby, running for the Conservatives in the newly-created Manor Park ward in Newcastle upon Tyne, is believed to be one of the country’s oldest candidates.

Miss Kirkby unsuccessfully stood for election in Westerhope several years ago, but decided to try again this year because several voters asked her to. A SYNDICATE of 15 hospital nurses are celebrating after scooping £1 million in the National Lottery.

Each member of The Winning Nurses Syndicate pocketed more than £66,666 after matching one of the two Euromillions UK Millionaire Maker codes. The group from Cleland Hospital in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, have been playing together for three years and the £1 million windfall tops their previous biggest win which was previously just £12.

Thirteen members of the 15-strong syndicate opted to share news of their good fortune with June Fraser, 58, in charge of checking tickets each week.

She said: “I checked the tickets using the National Lottery app on Saturday morning.

“I scanned the first one and it wasn’t a winner – I actually thought that was the ticket for Friday night’s draw and very nearly didn’t scan the second one as I thought it was for a future draw.

“When I did and it told me that we’d won £1 million I thought the app must be broken – I couldn’t believe it.”

The first thing the lucky winners are spending their cash on is a bumper batch of cakes and goodies to treat everyone at Cleland Hospital.