N-E bingo caller is Britain's best

6:06pm Sunday 25th November 2007

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A NORTH-EAST bingo caller hit the jackpot tonight when he was named as the best in Britain.

Blake Robson, of the Mecca club in South Shields, beat off the competition from five other regional heat winners to take the National Bingo Gaming Association's Bingo Caller of the Year award.

The thrilled 41-year-old received his trophy from actress Lorraine Chase, of the ITV soap Emmerdale, after impressing the judges with his clarity of calling at Mecca's Wood Green club, in north London.

He is also £500 better off, and now looks forward to an all expenses paid holiday for two, to Los Angeles, in the USA.

Part of the trip includes the chance to call a game in the prestigious surrounds of the Sun Coast Casino in Las Vegas, a former haunt of his musical hero, Elvis Presley.

Mr Robson, from South Shields, won through to last night's final after being named regional winner at the North-East heat staged in Wallsend, in September.