Two cousins who live next door to each other have won £1 million thanks to their postcode.
Margaret Livens and cousin Joyce Ablitt, both 72, built a pair of semi-detached houses with their husbands on land gifted to them by their grandfather 47 years ago. As the only two houses on the street, the council gave them their own postcode.
Now they are celebrating after their postcode in Little Neston was announced as the winning ticket in the People’s Postcode Lottery. Retired secretary Margaret and husband Harry, 73, each picked up £333,333 with individual tickets and widow Joyce won the same.
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Harry said: "I can't repeat what I thought when I first saw the cheque. We’d been stewing all weekend." Margaret added: "We built the houses ourselves. It was a real family affair. They’re the only ones on the street, so we needed our own postcode. This is just incredible."
But, despite landing the entire prize pot, all three have told how they would give up their new fortune to get their dogs back. The Livens lost their West Highland terrier Chloe a month ago, and Joyce still misses her golden Labrador, Lucy.
Margaret said: “We used to have a little square hole in the fence and the dogs used to talk to each other. I’d give all the money away just to see and hold them again. They are a big part of the family."
The family were presented with their cheques at Postcode Lottery’s annual charity gala on Monday in Edinburgh. During the ceremony Joyce had to be held up by Postcode Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson after swooning when she saw how much she had won.
She added: “My legs just gave way. It was lucky Matt was there.”
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