Father Christmas delivered an early Christmas present to Gala Bingo in Salford on Monday, December 13, when ecstatic local grandmother Sylvia Sharp-Cardigan hit the leading bingo operator’s unique High 5 jackpot.

Sylvia, a 67-year-old care worker from Pendlebury, went to the club to play bingo with her daughter and won the full house prize of £3,000, but was even more delighted to discover she’d also triggered the High 5 jackpot, taking her winnings up to £128,000.

However the festive luck didn’t stop there. Because of the groundbreaking nature of the High 5 game, half of the overall £250,000 jackpot was shared between the 105 players in the club at the time, meaning they each took away an early Christmas treat of £1,190!

Sylvia has been a regular at the club since it opened and is no stranger to scooping the jackpot, previously claiming £3,500 on a full house. However, she never thought that she would actually celebrate a High 5 win and was thrilled that her bingo bonanza came in time for Christmas.

The lucky grandmother, who is planning to share the winnings with her daughter, said: “I am over the moon! This win will make it a Christmas to remember. I’ve got nine grandchildren and I can’t wait to spoil them over the holidays.”

Sylvia added: “It’s fantastic to be able to share my win with my family and everyone at the club, its come just at the right time of year. Everyone at Gala Bingo Salford was so lovely and congratulated me straight away, even buying me a cake!”

After Christmas Sylvia, a lifelong Elvis fan, plans to beat the January blues by booking the trip of a lifetime to Graceland, Memphis to visit the home of the King.

Club operations manager of Gala Bingo Salford, Joanne Parfitt, said: “It was an absolutely fantastic evening. The atmosphere in the club was electric and everyone just erupted with applause when Sylvia called house. It is always great to see our members win big prizes but it made it even more exciting because we all know Sylvia. The place is still buzzing.”

Over 51 million Gala Bingo members have played the High 5 game since its launch in 2007. The club leading the way, awarding the most prize money is Gala Fenton, paying out an astonishing £1.38 million. At odds of some one in 1,145 million, Gala Bingo in Warrington saw two £250,000 wins in the space of just 6 days in the week before Christmas 2009. The High 5 Jackpot has paid out a total £18,789,890.09 since it began, and it’s easy to see why the game has been one of Gala Bingo’s most successful to date.

The High 5 game offers a unique chance for customers to play for a jackpot. With better prize money and even more chances to win, the linked High 5 game is Britain’s biggest bingo jackpot.