A father and daughter who bought a lottery ticket from the same newsagents for 18 years scooped the £3.9 million jackpot – after they went to a different shop.
Irene Harper, 60, and dad Thomas Foden, 80, have bought a ticket every week since the lottery started in 1994.
The pair had never won more than £10 but last Friday Irene, a full-time carer for her husband Barry, 61, decided to try her luck from a different shop.
Incredibly, Irene discovered she had matched all six winning numbers on Saturday night’s draw – the day before her 60th birthday.
And cool-as-a-cucumber Irene decided to keep the news quiet until after she had celebrated he milestone day with friends and family.
Yesterday Irene and Thomas were presented with a cheque for £3,909,990 as the UK’s first quadruple rollover winners at The Mount Hotel in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, West Mids.
Mum-of-two Irene said: “My dad and I have always loved doing the lottery.
“We never won much but kept doing it and watching the draw every Saturday night, it was our thing we did.
“We always popped into the same newsagents near our home to buy the tickets but last week I decided to go into a Costcutter which had just got a new lottery machine installed.
“I don’t know why I chose to do that because the shops are quite close to each other but I’m so glad I did.”
The father and daughter, from Tipton, West Mids., matched all six numbers, 1,6,7,8,25 and 42, on the same day as Irene’s 39th wedding anniversary.
And because she was celebrating her 60th birthday on Sunday, they decided to keep the news a secret until they had the win confirmed by Lottery operator Camelot on Monday morning.
Irene said: “I usually watch the draw religiously but because it was my wedding anniversary I was out celebrating so missed it on TV.
“I checked the numbers when I came in on teletext and thought I’d matched five.
“I called my son Simon who double-checked the numbers on his computer and then came downstairs shouting that I’d got all six.
“I couldn’t believe it but I still had my birthday to celebrate and I wanted to enjoy that so didn’t mention the win to anyone else, apart from dad of course.”
Irene and Thomas had always picked up their tickets for the last 18 years from a different shop just doors away on Prince’s End High Street, Tipton, West Mids.
Divorced Thomas, a retired motorway maintenance worker who lives on his own, said: “I will probably move out eventually, I’d love to live out in the middle of the country but at my age that probably won’t happen.
“My and Irene’s priority is to sort out our family at the moment and look after them.
“I just want to look after them and keep my friends. I don’t want it to change us.
“I always believed we would win the lottery, we’ve been doing it ever since it started and I always knew there would be a big win for us.
“Mind you we tried everything – playing special numbers and even drawing numbers out of a hat.
“But it was a lucky dip in the end that won it for us. I don’t think I’ll stop playing the lottery, I’ll definitely have a few more goes. But I’m very very happy.”
