A Coatbridge gran has shared £1 million after accidentally signing up for extra lottery tickets.
Geraldine Regan decided to purchase two People’s Postcode Lottery tickets when she retired, but in an error signed up for four instead.
The blunder meant she quadrupled her winnings in Millionaire Street prize and has now shared the £1m pot with 19 neighbours.
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The retired insurance worker, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, said: “I always just played with one ticket.
“But when I retired I thought I would up it to two but hit four by mistake.
“When I went on to try and change it back to two, I thought I couldn’t be bothered so I just kept them all.”
She added: “It feels amazing and surreal, but I’ll keep on playing with four tickets.”
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Geraldine shared the cash with neighbours in Coatbridge after ML5 3PL landed Postcode Lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize on Saturday, August 31.
Every ticket was worth £38,461 but Geraldine quadrupled her winnings with four tickets landing her with £153,844.
Three other players doubled their prize to £76,922 with two tickets each.
Now Geraldine and retired husband Paul, 62, are planning to treat themselves on a trip they’ve already booked to Gran Canaria to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
She said: “It’s our Ruby Wedding on Saturday and we’ll be in Gran Canaria. We’ll go for a nice meal somewhere posher for our wedding anniversary. And it’ll be champagne instead of Cava.”
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The couple, who met at school, are also dreaming of more sunshine-filled breaks – as well as helping out their family.
Mum-of-two Geraldine said: “We’ll get a couple of more holidays and treat the family.
"They deserve it. I’d love a family holiday. “Paul loves Las Vegas. We went to see Rod Stewart there and saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden in New York.
"I want to go back to New York. I’ve always wanted to see it near Christmas.
“We like cruises, but we’ve only ever done the Med. We were on one in May, but we could go further afield now.”
Paul added: “We’ve got a week in the sunshine to think about it.”
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Further along the street Lee Devlin revealed she started playing weeks after partner Thomas McLaughlan, 37, joined but signed up with two tickets.
Stunned Lee had just finished a night shift as a nurse practitioner before scooping £76,922 while Lee pocketed £38,461.
Now the couple are planning some home improvements – and want to take son Felix, five, to Disney. And Thomas fancies watching his team Celtic in the Champions League.
Lee, 39, said: “Oh my God, I can’t believe this. It’s more money than I’ve ever had in my life. We’ll do house stuff. We might look at new floors, windows and gutters. Kind of boring stuff. And we’ll spoil our wee boy. Get him anything he wants.”
Thomas said: “Disneyland probably! He sees it all the time on the television and said he’d love to go. Legoland is a possibility, too. “I’m buzzing and in a bit of shock. I’d like to go and see Celtic in the Champions League. We’ll see what happens after the draw.”
Lee laughed: “He’s allowed.”
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