Napier man claims $300,000 from old Lotto ticket stashed away in truck

Thursday, 7 December 2017

'I handed over a couple of small win tickets first and then said to the retailer 'this one says it's a first division win – is that a good thing?',' he said.

A man from Napier is $300,000 richer thanks to a nearly three-month-old Lotto ticket.

The winner bought the Strike ticket from Taradale Four Square ahead of the September 20 Lotto draw, and left it in his truck.

'Every now and then I do a big clean out of my truck and this time I found a few Lotto tickets tucked away in the centre compartment,' he said.

'I didn't think anything of it at the time because I often pop tickets in there and forget about them. I can't even remember where I bought each ticket.'

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The winner headed into his local Lotto store this week and was surprised to find he had been sitting on a win.

'I was checking the bunch of old tickets at the self-scanner and saw one of the messages showed 'Congratulations - First Division win',' he said.

'The funny thing is that I must have been in doubt because I just carried on checking the rest of them. Then I checked it again, and I must have checked it four more times before I finally went to the counter.

'I handed over a couple of small win tickets first and then said to the retailer 'this one says it's a first division win – is that a good thing?'

'When I found out I'd won $300,000, I was in shock. It still hasn't sunk in. Although I can say it's been great timing and this win has provided real peace of mind.'

He was still deciding how he would spend his winnings.