A Leeds bus driver and his partner are one of many who were left stunned after winning in the People's Postcode Lottery.
The couple won over £700,000 after the LS17 postcode sector was announced as the most recent winner. The postcode in Moortown saw residents and neighbours win a combined £3.2 million in cash prizes. The thrilled residents learned of their winnings at a special event on Saturday, September 3.
Three neighbours, in particular, were left shocked after their LS17 6JE postcode was announced as the full winner. As a result, they each won £369,425.
Read More: Joy for three Leeds families as they scoop nearly £400,000 on Postcode Lottery
Paul and Julie Meehan, who got married early this year each received a six-figure cheque totalling £369,425 each. Paul was speechless when he won and never expected it to happen.
He said: "To be honest, I still don’t believe it now. We never thought in a million years when we came here that we’d come home with this.”
When asked what they would do with the money, Paul and Julie said they would buy a new car, retire early and buy their very first home together. The third winner of the full prize chose to remain anonymous.
Another 435 neighbours also took home a win, each receiving between £4,348 and £17,392 depending on their number of tickets. Husband and wife Karen and Graham Dodd play with two tickets each, winning them a total of £17,392.
63-year-old, retired hospitality manager Karen said: “It’s just incredible. After I had a £2,000 Postcode Lottery win last year my husband Graham started playing…so it’s thanks to him signing up that we’ve won as much as we have this time round!
“It’s Graham’s seventieth in May next year and our son lives in New York, so we’d planned a big trip to see him and then travel on to Boston and maybe San Francisco. We both love jazz music so we’ll be heading to all the best jazz bars and roof top spots the city has to offer. Only now, we’ll be able to travel and celebrate in style, winning this will make the trip all the more special and memorable for us.”
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt was at the event handing out cheques to winners. She said: “I couldn’t be more pleased for all our winners in Leeds today, what a lovely surprise for them all and a great start to all their weekends!
“The community here has been so friendly and I’m sure there will be plenty of celebrations taking place across the neighbourhood tonight.”
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