CHRISTMAS has come early for grandmother Susan Hodgkins after winning £1,000, thanks to the Oxford Mail.

The 74-year-old was the lucky winner of the Mail’s festive competition, which gave readers the chance to get some extra Christmas cash.

And after being left “gobsmacked” by her win, Mrs Hodgkins said she was completely stunned by the prize and has no clue what she will splash out on.

Mother-of-two and grandmother-of-four Mrs Hodgkins said: “I was absolutely gobsmacked. At the moment I don’t know what I’m going to do with it.

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“First I thought, I don’t want this money. But it’s very nice and I do appreciate it.

“I’m sure that when I spend the money, I will spend it on something I have always wanted to have or something I always wanted to do.”

Mrs Hodgkins, from Kidlington, said she does not have any extravagant plans to spend the money on a trip abroad and would much rather put it towards visiting her much-loved Cornwall or Yorkshire.

She added: “I will put it into a bank and probably go on holiday with it.

“We don’t travel abroad, I have never wanted to go abroad so I have never thought about it.”

Daughter Kym Hodgkins, 46, said her mother likes to indulge in the music of Cliff Richard and Andre Rieu and it would be a treat to see them in concert.

The mother-of-two added: “I was really pleased for her because she has done a lot of competitions over the years from the Oxford Mail.”

Mrs Hodgkins, who lives with Peter, her husband of 51 years, started the year by winning a book from the Kidlington Townswomen’s Guild.

This is also the second Oxford Mail competition the avid reader has won after receiving a family portrait session about 20 years ago when she completed a wordsearch puzzle.

Mrs Hodgkins, who has been reading the Oxford Mail for about 40 years, said: “If I see a competition, I like to have a go.”

Readers were invited to collect 12 out of 18 tokens printed in the Oxford Mail over a three-week period.

The winner was then selected at random from more than 1,000 entries received.

Oxford Mail senior territory manager Jo Coady said: “It’s great to spread some Christmas joy to one of our many loyal readers. The response to the competition was fantastic.

“We would like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas.”

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