A ticket gaffe has seen a Hertfordshire man quadruple his People’s Postcode Lottery winnings as he scooped up £500,000 in total.
Mark Wilson, 62, made a mistake that saw him end up with four tickets worth £125,000 each for his Borehamwood postcode WD6 2SL.
The engineer and his wife Billie, 41, were among five households in Hackney Close who won the lottery’s weekly £1 Millionaire prize today, July 6.
Mark said: “This has changed our lives forever. I’m a half-a-millionaire!
“I made a mistake when we were doing the direct debit and I pressed three instead of one, and I never bothered changing it because it’s going to charities, so that’s good.
“I then added another [ticket] through PayPal because I didn’t think the direct debit was working. I still don’t think it’s real, I’ll wake up in a minute.”
The 62-year-old started playing the postcode lottery consistently in December 2022, and despite realising he had multiple tickets, he continued to pay for four every month until their win today.
Mark is a keen vinyl collector and is looking at splashing out on a house extension and loft conversion to expand his 4,000-strong collection.
Supermarket worker Billie said she’ll now be able to reduce her working hours, but she has no intention of quitting.
Despite his bumper win, Mark reported in for his shift at dairy company Arla Foods moments after receiving the news.
Mark said: “I’ve got a normal day ahead of me and I finish at 6pm, but I have to say my mind probably won’t be on the job.”
The couple, who got married two and half years ago, already have a staycation booked in the Peak District but might look into going to Australia or America in the next few years.
Mark said: “I’ve never been lucky apart from finding Billie. She’s changed my life and whatever we’ll do with the money, we’ll put it to good use.”
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The couple will celebrate the win with their family by enjoying a bottle of non-alcoholic prosecco and having a record spinning in the background.
The other four winners on Hackney Close bagged £125,000 each but were unavailable or chose to remain anonymous.
Several charities also benefitted from this week’s lottery as Cecil’s Horse Sanctuary was awarded £20,000 by Postcode Community Trust.
Hertsmere Mencap was also awarded £30,000 while Give. Help. Share and Citizens Advice Hertsmere received £50,000 and £50,000 respectively.
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