A LUCKY Crewe pensioner has been busy popping the champagne corks after winning more than £174,000 on an £18 bet.

Amazingly, the 68-year-old man found out about his win several days after the last race because he forgot to check the results.

The punter, who has declined to be named, scooped the cash after placing a multiple phone bet on four horses.

He picked the winners out of the Daily Mirror newspaper and thought it was a wind-up when he first heard he had won.

He said: 'The most I have ever won before is £2,000 and I will definitely be spending some of the money on my family - once I've picked my wife up from the floor - she can't believe my luck either!

'I don't always check the results everyday but I will do from now on.'

The pensioner also declined an opportunity to go to nearby Ain-tree at the weekend for the Grand National, preferring instead to phone his bets through from the comfort of his own armchair.

A spokesman for William Hill bookmakers, Jennie Priest, said: 'We were fully expecting him to be popping open the champagne when we called.

'However, he really had no idea that he had won and he actually dropped the phone in shock.

'Once he realised April Fools Day had been and gone and we weren't winding him up, he was obviously delighted.'

The punter's £18 bet was a £1 Lucky 15 and a £3 accumulator and returned him a total of £174,034.30.

The horses, which ran at Southwell and Lingfield, romped home at 10/1, 12/1, 12/1 and 20/1.