Teaching assistant Andrea Bowen is sitting pretty after winning a dining table and chairs in an Express & Star competition.

The mother-of-two from Netherton was thrilled to find out she had won the solid oak table and six leather covered chairs worth more than £1,000 from Cousins.

Mrs Bowen, aged 38, had to correctly answer that the furniture chain has stores in Dudley, Birmingham and Manchester.

She said it had been a few years since she had entered a competition and it was husband Mark, aged 39, who persuaded her to try.

She said she was not really a gambler and doesn’t play the lottery regularly, or go to bingo or have a flutter on the horses. But she had been quite lucky in raffles scooping prizes from a bottle of wine to a bike.

She recently entered a competition in the Express & Star to have your mortgage paid but was not lucky.

The dining suite is the biggest prize she has ever won.

Mrs Bowen, from Yew Tree Hills, said: “I’ve won raffles in the past but not a big prize like this.

“My husband said I should have a go because we needed a new dining suite.

“We only have four chairs so the extra two will be a bonus when we have guests especially with Christmas coming. I will have to make sure no-one puts any hot cups on the table and I will be looking to buy something to go with it. The suite is stunning and I would like to thank Cousins and the Express & Star.”

Now staff at Netherbrook Primary School in Netherton where she works are encouraging her to enter more competitions as they reckon she may be on a winning streak.

After finding out she had won the Express & Star competition, Mrs Bowen bought a lottery ticket and won £10.

The suite will be delivered tomorrow.