A COUPLE from Tunbridge Wells has won a quarter of a million-pound prize on a National Lottery £250,000 Gold Scratchcard, with the winning ticket bought from a newsagent on Camden Road.
After scooping the jackpot, teacher Michelle Newton and her husband, school caretaker, John Simpson are now planning to pay off the mortgage, house renovations, purchase a rental property and go on holiday to Australia.
Michelle (50) and John (61) work at Beechwood School, Tunbridge Wells. Michelle is a teacher of Science and Religious Studies and John is the school caretaker. The couple popped into Pages Newsagents later than planned after losing their keys and bought a scratchcard with the remaining change.
Michelle said: “We immediately scratched the card outside the shop and we just stopped dead in our tracks. I said to John, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’. We just stood there in the street, cars whizzing past, shaking, realising we had won.”
John added: “We kept looking at the scratchcard and thinking about what to do next. Michelle said she felt light-headed. So instead of going home, we diverted to the local pub, The Black Horse, for a pint before calling to claim our prize.”
As they were late John still had to run some errands so Michelle went home to call The National Lottery hotline to make the claim.
“As a teacher of Science and Religious Studies I constantly ask pupils to think about how and why things happen. And yet here is a totally random event. Life financially is definitely going to be more comfortable. One thing is for sure, we are never going to moan about losing our keys again,” said Michelle.
The couple, who have been married for nearly three years, haven’t arranged a celebration party yet. Instead they are busy planning a joint celebration – winning £250,000 on a National Lottery Scratchcard and John’s birthday – at the end of January.
