A gambling nun is praying for her fourth Grand National success in a row.

Sister Rita Dawson's winning habit makes her one of the luckiest Grand National punters in the UK.

Now Sister Rita, chief executive of St Margaret's Hospice in Clydebank, near Glasgow is hoping for further success so she can raise thousands of pounds for the centre.

The nun, part of the Sisters of Charity order, has won on the last three Grand Nationals at cumulative odds of 7,865/1.

She plans on betting on Gunner Welburn - who has odds of 12/1 - in this year's race and has been handed a £1,000 free charity bet by bookmakers Ladbrokes.

Sister Rita, originally from Tipperary in Ireland, is trying to raise £1.6m for the hospice which cares for the terminally ill and the frail elderly.

She makes her yearly Grand National selections after calling her brother in Ireland for his advice.

Sister Rita said: "I have a chat with my brother who narrows the field down for me. Then something strikes me and I go for one horse."