CARPENTER Adie Vearn-combe is the toast of his village pub, after he picked six winners and netted his friends a total of £55,000.

The 57-year-old grandfather, who lives in Allington, is a member of a six-man syndicate at the Old Inn, Allington.

Members each week bet £2 each on the horses.

The Allington Racing Club syndicate was betting on the Tote Scoop6 and it was Adie who, helped by a tip from eight-time champion jockey Peter Scudamore, selected the winners, including the 20-1 winner of the Scottish National.

Father-of-four Adie told the Journal: "Although I picked the winners, each one of us has always said that, if any one of us ever wins, we all share it.

"So by the end of the day we each had just over £9,100.

"It won't change my life but it was a good day."

But that was not the end of the celebrations, for the Tote invited the winners to a luxury weekend at Sandown Races last week, with the bonus of having the chance of picking up a further £70,800 if they could pick the winning horse.

Adie said: "It was a great weekend.

"We were invited into the top suite at Sandown and watched the racing but our luck did not hold out and we didn't get that winner.

"Still, we had a fantastic weekend and each one of us is more than £9,000 richer."

Members of the syndicate all live in the Allington area and, although this was not their first win, it was their largest.