BILLY BURDEN, who lives near Poole and who is well known for his amusing 'yokel' stage character, came to RNLI HQ on January 31 to draw the Institution's twenty-fourth national lottery.

For this and future lotteries, the first prize has been increased to £2,000 with seven additional £100 prizes and, the amount raised on this occasion was a record £48,312. The draw was supervised by Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Compston, a deputy chairman of the RNLI, with Anthony Oliver, appeals secretary, and the prize winners were: £2,000: Mr and Mrs G. J. Robertson, Liverpool, Merseyside.

£500: Mr P. A. McCracken, Lancing, West Sussex. £250: Mr Martin Watts, London W4.

£100: Mr Richard Elliott, Malmesbury, Wiltshire; Miss M. Brown, Bournemouth, Dorset; Mr T. Woods, Bristol, Avon; Miss S. P. Green, Marlow, Buckinghamshire; Mr B. G.

Dawkins, Chichester, West Sussex; Mrs B. Owen, Besselsleigh, Oxfordshire; Mr H. S. Taylor, London SE3.

£50: Mrs C. Carpenter, Lydd, Kent; Mr G. H. Dracup, Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire; Pat Luck, Maldon, Essex; Mr Charles Dignan, Heathfield, East Sussex; Mr C. Brown, Newquay, Cornwall; Mr S. Turnbull, Oakham, Leicestershire; Ivan and Betty Bryant, Keynsham, Somerset; Mr T. D. Thomas, Wallasey, Merseyside; Mr N. Lee, Lichfield, Staffordshire; Mr J. J. Duns, Southport, Merseyside. The draw for the twentyfifth RNLI lottery will be made at Poole on Monday April 30..