Four-wheeled winner in butcher's competition

7:03pm Sunday 6th January 2008

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AN Exmoor family butcher gave one woman a gratefully received late Christmas present in the shape of a brand new car.

Devon telesales executive Joan Jackson was handed the keys to the vehicle, courtesy of Somerset butcher Gerald David.

Joan, 32, won the Skoda after entering a free draw as she ordered her Christmas turkey from Gerald's shop at Fermoys Garden Centre near her Newton Abbot home.

More than 4,500 other names also went into the hat as a result of turkey sales through the six Gerald David outlets, but Joan's was drawn out first at the weekend at the David family's Culbone Stables Inn, on Exmoor.

On Monday Joan and her family travelled to the inn to collect her prize, replacing her G-reg Ford, which will set them her off in style when she goes on her honeymoon following her upcoming Easter wedding.

"I had been planning to get a replacement car, so winning one could hardly have come at a better time," said Joan.

Gerald said the free competition had been hugely popular.

"We started it as a way of encouraging people to order their turkeys early so we would know what level of demand we were dealing with, but word soon got around and there was a bit of a stampede for tickets," he said.

"We'll almost certainly be running something similar next year."