Bus driver wins £1.8m on lottery after finding 'lucky penny'

A bus driver has told how he believes a "lucky penny" helped him win £1.8 million on the National Lottery.

Sean Lloyd, 48, was on his lunch break from driving the 350 service in Oldham when he spotted the coin on the floor outside a Tesco store as he was going to buy a ticket.

He rubbed the coin on the ticket for good luck - and later found out he'd won the National Lottery quadruple rollover.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said: "I went to Tesco on my lunch break from the 350 and saw this shiny coin on the floor outside.

"I just had this feeling that it was lucky so I picked it up and rubbed it on the ticket.

"All that day I had a funny feeling in my tummy that something was going to change and I kept thinking what I would buy if I won.

"That night everyone had gone to bed and I thought I would check my ticket secretly - then ran upstairs shouting 'we won, we won!'

"They all told me off, thinking I was messing about.

"I called a mate at First Oldham and said 'can you cover my shifts - for the rest of my life'.

"I'll miss it because everybody there is fantastic, but it will be nice not to be working 60-70 hours a week."

The paper uploaded pictures of the couple to Twitter.

BT News reports he added: "I got my iPad out and started to check my numbers. I saw I had five and I thought 'Amazing. I can now pay towards my daughter's wedding bill'.

"I then noticed I had the bonus ball too and I just screamed with excitement - I could not believe it! My wife had gone to bed - I ran upstairs to wake her and just shouted 'We are going out right now to celebrate' - I think she thought I had gone slightly mad.

"I called my son and I have to confess we did have a few celebratory drinks and ended up finally going to bed at 4am."

And he told the Mirrorhe is now excited about living the high life: "I am now looking forward to a wonderful life. I will be able to pay off the mortgage and all of my debts, and take my family on a dream holiday.

"Things like this just don't happen to people like me. I just cannot believe it. I have to keep pinching myself and telling myself this is really happening and Melanie (his wife) and I really have won the lottery."

Related articles

Where to go if you win the lottery...

£148 million lottery winners jet off on budget Easyjet holiday

Dublin Airport staff win €6.4 million lottery jackpot