AN EAGLE-EYED reader has scooped a belated Christmas present as the latest winner in The Daily Echo's Find The Ball competition.

Esther McGovern, of Ashlett Road, Fawley, won £1,200 as a runner-up in the contest. Housewife Mrs McGovern, 45, who enters the competition with her husband, carpenter Patrick, 50, said: "This is a great start to the New Year. It's lovely coming after Christmas.''

Mrs McGovern, a mother-of-four, added: "We may spend the money on a holiday, maybe to Florida."

The jackpot for tomorrow's prize, which is also in the Sunday Independent, stands at a mammoth £16,000 with a runner-up prize of £1,300.

Find The Ball appears in four Newsquest titles each week. Last year more than £275,000 was handed out in prize money.