Shopkeeper's mistake leads to lottery win

Lynne Groves and her daughter, celebrating her win.
Lynne Groves and her daughter, celebrating her win.



A Chelmsford woman who spotted she'd been given the wrong lottery ticket is very glad she did - because when she got the right one, it won her £1 million.

Lynne Groves, 58, who works as a carer, went into her local shop to buy her usual Lotto tickets, but was accidentally given a EuroMillions ticket instead.

After Lynne noticed the mistake, he printed the Lotto Lucky Dip ticket she was after - which turned out to carry the £1 million Lotto Millionaire Raffle number.

"I was looking after a gentleman who I have known for many years. About midnight I made myself a cup of tea and decided to check my lottery tickets," she says.

"I saw the main numbers didn't match, but then I worked my way down to the Lotto Raffle - I couldn't believe my eyes."

She wasn't able to tell partner Mick about the win until the morning.

Lynne plans to take her family to Disneyland and Italy, and hopes to buy her rented home. She's also planning to say thank-you to the shopkeeper by buying him a trip to Australia.

"My family mean the world to me. I've always done as much as I can to help them and now I can do even more. My children will have brand new cars, straight off the forecourt and so will Mick," she says. "The grandchildren will all have a little nest-egg set-up for when they leave school, but I'm also sending them to Disneyland this year."

And she says that the delay in giving her the right ticket is what made her a millionaire.

"I thought I would be working until my late sixties, possibly beyond, and then thanks to one whopping dose of luck and a simple mistake, suddenly that's all changed," she says.

It is, of course, common for people to miss out on a lottery win thanks to a mistake. But this isn't the first time that being given the wrong ticket has actually led to a win.

Two years ago, for example, a New York man was given the wrong scratchcard, which he switched for the right one. But when it netted him $25, he spent it on the card the cashier had mistakenly given him the first time - and won the $10million jackpot.

Scottish Couple Become £33 Million National Lottery Winners
Scottish Couple Become £33 Million National Lottery Winners




Advertisement