An Exeter mum admits to being completely overwhelmed after a Lucky Dip delivered a festive fortune.
Jenn Burston, who has two young children, won in the massive Lotto Quadruple Rollover draw. She was one of five ticket holders who 'only' matched five numbers plus the bonus ball, but because no-one matched all six number the prize rolled down. Each ticketholder banked £3,062,272.
The win came from a chance purchase online. Jenn, who says she feels a "bit gobsmacked", said, "I always play EuroMillions online and saw the big Lotto rollover so decided to have a go. On Wednesday night, I was on my way to bed and thought I'd look at my account to see if I'd won anything. I logged in on my phone and it said I was a winner – my numbers were circled! I thought hang on a minute, I think I've won £3,000 and took my phone to go and show my husband.
"All my husband Ian kept saying was, 'are you sure it's your ticket?' so I tried to show him on the phone, but we were so excited we couldn't really see it…We decided to get the iPad and log on with a bigger screen. Once we realised it was £3 million neither of us knew what to do next."
After spending the next few hours looking at her phone rather than sleeping, Jenn received the email from The National Lottery to say she was a winner, which confirmed the good news, although she carried on checking until the morning.
I logged in on my phone and it said I was a winner – my numbers were circled!
Jenn already had plans for a bigger family house in the same area next year, and that wish will definitely come true. Next year's holiday was already booked to Turkey, but they may try and "squeeze in another one".
Jenn added: "I keep asking myself, just how do you spend that sort of money? I'm sure with £3 million in the bank, the knack will come for us!"
Lotto can only roll four times. As no one matched all six numbers in the draw on 17 December, the prize money was shared between the five winners in the next winning prize level (five plus bonus), each winner scooping over £3 million.
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