A BRADFORD couple say they have received a “wonderful surprise” after being crowned winners of a Telegraph & Argus competition which will now see their household bills paid for, for the next three months.

Pauline and Keith Wilks, who are aged 76 and 81 respectively, said they “couldn’t believe” their luck after winning the ‘Win Your Bills’ competition, and hope to treat themselves to a trip to Switzerland - their favourite holiday destination - with the £2,000 prize money.

The competition was launched by the T&A last month, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis - with the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown causing considerable change to the way we live, times have been hard for everyone this year.

Win Your Bills was launched in the hope it would provide a “huge relief” to one lucky household, said group editor Nigel Burton, who argued that "the future is uncertain."

From 6 July, a token was published in each edition of the Telegraph & Argus, until all five were collected.

The entry form also had a question on it, which had to be answered correctly, for readers to have a chance of winning.

Mr and Mrs Wilks’ win was even more of a surprise as the couple, who are from the Bolton Road area and have lived at the same address for 57 years, entered the competition on a whim and then forgot about it, until they received a phone call telling them they had won.

“It was quite funny really, as Keith, my husband, was cutting the tokens out one Sunday morning, and when I asked him what he was doing, he told me that I might as well join him and fill in the entry form myself”, said Mrs Wilks.

“So that’s what I did, but we never thought another thing about it - we filled it in, posted it, and that was it.

“A few weeks later, the T&A rang and we couldn’t believe it - it was a wonderful surprise.

“The T&A photographer came round and took our pictures, it was lovely.

“We don’t normally bother with competitions or anything. The only thing I’ve ever won before was also from the T&A, and it was years and years ago now.

“The prize was a video tape of a Clint Eastwood film, but I can’t remember what I had to do to win it, I think it was something to do with guessing a slogan. This is only the second time I've won something in my life!”

Mr and Mrs Wilks have a calendar in their home which features a picture of the Swiss Alps - they got it from Switzerland, on one of their many visits to the country, two years ago.

They hope that they can visit again, so long as it is safe to do so and COVID-19 restrictions ease, following their win.

"We intend to go to Switzerland again, with the money. The first time we went there was in 1980, and we have been many times since - we aren't really sun-worshippers, so we never really think to go anywhere else!

"We put money away every month for bills and things like that, so to spend it on a Swiss holiday would be a special treat to us.

"We have to see if coronavirus eases, first. We're getting older now and you never know when your last trip could be, but once things cool down, we're hoping to go next year, in September, which is the month we normally go in.

"Overall, we're just so pleased and honoured to have won."