Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
JET SET FOR LIFE
£10k-a-month pair already planning their luxury trips
A LUCKY couple who thought they had won a fiver on the lottery are Set for Life after winning £10,000-a-month for 30 years.
Laura Hoyle, 39, and Kirk Stevens, 37, won the National Lottery game jackpot on March 1 and are now planning some luxury post-lockdown holidays.
It took two weeks before they checked their account and realised they had scooped the jackpot.
“I did get an alert saying there was ‘good news about my ticket’ but assumed I had won a fiver,” said Laura.
“I even kept on playing for several more draws before I got an email from Camelot requesting I log in.”
She said: “I was working from home that afternoon and stopped immediately to call Camelot. I was physically shaking as I told the lady, ‘I think I’ve won the lottery’.
“It was so weird saying those words. I kept thinking this must be a joke; it can’t be happening to us.”
Kirk filmed the moment stunned Laura was told over the phone that their lives had changed for ever. She replied “you’re joking,” as the callhandler confirmed their win.
Delighted Kirk popped open a bottle of Prosecco before Laura had even finished the call. She said: “By the end of Friday evening, we had finished off four bottles of Prosecco between us.
“Kirk fell fast asleep but I couldn’t sleep a wink. My mind was still racing and I stayed awake all night.”
Laura quit her job at a logistics firm last week but Kirk is staying at Rollsroyce as an aeronautical engineer.
The couple, from Hucknall, Notts, who matched all five main numbers plus the Life Ball, have already treated themselves to a Porsche Cayenne.