Why did road sweeper who won lottery go back to work?

Joseph Whiting, a 42-year-old road sweeper from Camden in North London, won £4.5 million in last Wednesday's National Lottery draw. But minutes after he checked his ticket, he decided he'd better go to work.

Whiting told the Mirror that he'd checked his numbers at 4am, before work. He didn't have his glasses on initially, so he put them on and checked twice more. He told his mother - who he lives with - but she thought he was joking. He told the paper: "She said 'give over, it's too early in the morning for jokes like that'."

So, still doubting that he had won, he decided he ought to go to work. He told the Mirror: "I don't know how I got through the day. My mind was all over the place. You can check 100 times and you are still not sure."

The father of three contacted Camelot when he finished his shift, and they confirmed he was a winner, but he said it still hadn't really sunk in.

According to the Daily Mail, it was only the following week that he told his boss he would be giving up work for good. He told the paper: "I enjoy it, it isn't a bad job and I work with a good team. However, I won't miss getting up at 4am."

He says he will take driving lessons, buy a bigger house, and take his three children on holiday. He'd also like a season ticket to watch Arsenal.
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Back to work
He's not the first lottery winner to go straight to work after learning of a win. Back in May 2013, Jan Parfitt, a district nurse from Pontardawe, near Swansea, was sleeping off a night shift, when her husband woke her to tell her she'd won £1 million on the National Lottery. Hours later, she started another ten-and-a half hour night shift. She said she loved her job and had no plans to give up.

In November last year, Sutton grandfather Ron Elliott won almost £8 million on the National Lottery and went to work the next day. The 67-year-old said he had no plans to give up his £15,000-a-year job in a care home. He said his patients needed him around.

Grandmother Jean Swatman from Lowestoft in Suffolk, also had no plans to give up work, after winning £2 million on the National Lottery. Her family tried to persuade the 62-year-old to give up her job making doughnuts for Morrisons - and even threw her work shoes away - but she said she'd carry on. She enjoyed her work and didn't see any need to stop.

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Some give up work, but get bored of the high life and go back. Luke Pittard from Wales won £1.3 million in 2006, but after buying a house, taking a holiday and getting married, he went back to work as a trainer for McDonalds. He said: "To be honest, there's only so much relaxing you can do."

And in 2008 Carl Prance, a millionaire from Wales, quickly regretted giving up work after winning £7 million on the National Lottery. The former train driver said things didn't feel right when he was on a permanent holiday, so he retrained and got a job in the railway offices.

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