GET LUCKY: Mansfield lottery given go ahead and it could have a Â£20,000 jackpot

Mansfield District Council will be the first local authority to launch a lottery in Nottinghamshire and it is expected to be up and running within four months.Money raised will help boost funding for community groups and good causes in the district to supplement the Â£95,000 the council gives out each year in grants to charities and groups.Mansfield mayor Kate Allsop said: "This is is not to replace council funding but to boost it as there are many more local groups and causes we would like to support but can't because we have a limited budget for this."Voluntary groups form the backbone of a thriving community so this can only be good for the district."Setting up a local authority lottery became possible under legislation in 2007 but it is only the past 12 to 18 months that councils have begun to take up the idea. Several councils around the UK are now running lotteries and they have proved to be a successful way of helping community groups. Aylesbury Vale District Council raised Â£70,000 for good causes in the first three months of its weekly draw.Mansfield's lottery is expected to be run by an external company specialising in delivering local authority lotteries, which would keep 20 per cent of the takings. Another 20 per cent would go in prize money and the remaining 60 per cent would be shared among local good causes. The tickets are likely to cost Â£1 and the maximum prize money is likely to be Â£20,000. The weekly draw will be open to anyone over the age of 16.The council will have to spend about Â£3,170 to set up the lottery but after that, it should be self sustaining and require just the annual renewal of the Gambling Commission licensing fee, which is currently Â£348.