A RUNCORN mum who leapt for joy when she thought she had won £89 on the bingo was staggered after learning her prize was actually £29,000.

When mother-of-two Mandy Waite called house at the Gala Club in Widnes, she had no idea of the size of the prize she had scooped.

Now 29-year-old Mandy plans to spend a big slice of the cash on a dream wedding for her and boyfriend John, a technical centre supervisor.

And the cash could not have come at a better time. Mandy is a senior health care assistant in a nursing home and has recently reduced her hours to attend college on an access to nursing course.

She said: 'The money has come just at the right time to help me while I am studying.'

But the couple are also planning a holiday for themselves and Mandy's sons, four-year-old Jonathan and Adam, 11.

She said: 'It came as a complete shock to me. When I realised I had won, I thought it was only for £89.

'I was playing the national game so I had to wait 20 minutes while my win was verified. When they told me I had won £29,000 everything went hazy and I felt faint with shock. I have never won that sort of money before. I was totally shellshocked when they told me how much I had won.

'I haven't recovered yet. I don't know where I am. It's a weird feeling.'

Mandy, of The Heath, has been a member of the Gala Club in the Windmill Centre, Lugdale Road, since it opened three years ago and plays there twice a week.

The National Bingo Game is played every night of the year except Christmas Day. Since it began in 1986, £655m has been paid out to lucky winners. The total weekly pay-out is more than £1m. Several thousand pounds can be won with bingo tickets costing 40p.

In July, an 83-year-old Runcorn woman scooped a massive £93,000 jackpot at a club in St Helens.

Her previous biggest win was £894 on a Link game.