A MARSDEN couple are on their way to The Big Apple thanks to the Examiner.

Carolyn Charlesworth and husband Keith have won our Fairytale in New York competition with the prize of a four-day trip to the US city next month.

The retired teacher couldn't believe her ears when the Examiner called with the good news.

She said: "I thought it was a hoax. I was shocked because I've never won anything before.

"I don't do the lottery because the odds seem too long and this is the first Examiner competition I've ever entered - perhaps I'll do them in the future!"

Carolyn, who used to teach three and four-year-olds at Reinwood Infant and Nursery School in Oakes, is looking forward to her first visit to New York.

She said: "Of course I want to see the sites of Manhattan like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler but I also want to get my picture taken on 42nd Street because I'm a fan of the film."

The 1933 musical is a long-time favourite of Carolyn who has been a member of Brighouse dance group Janet Austen Tappers for six years.

Carolyn and Keith will fly out from Manchester on December 5, staying at the four star New York Helmsey Hotel for four nights.

The couple will also receive $5,000 spending money and they plan to visit some of the world's most famous department stores.

Carolyn said: "Friends have told us that we should do some Christmas shopping at Macy's and Bloomingdale's while we're over there."

The couple have been to the US once before, five years ago, to visit distant cousins in Michigan.

Carolyn won the prize by collecting tokens from the Examiner earlier this month.

The 10 runners-up, who each win £100 cash, were: Ann Atkinson, Morley Fold, Denby Dale; Michelle Irving, Forest Road, Almondbury; Mrs Doreen Ellis, Woodhead Road, Lockwood; Mrs M Kennedy, Church Side Close, Halifax; Heidi Washington, Greenhill Bank Road, New Mill; Mrs A T Crowther, Heathfield, Mirfield; Ms Dagmar Tinker, Town Moor Lane, Thurstonland; Sheridan Garthwaite, Goldington Avenue, Oakes; Jillian Webster, Moorlands Road, Mount; Mrs Shirley Brook, Carmine Close, Dalton.