Pair plan to spend their lottery money on camper van trip

Shopkeeper wins £25,000 weeks after retiring ‘It was agony. We knew we’d won but we had no idea how much’

A shopkeeper has won £25,000 in a lottery, just weeks after cashing her tills for the last time.

Sheila Smith, 62, of Honey Hill, Blean, was settling into retirement when she learned of her luck in the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The mum-of-two – who ran Smiffies stationery shop in Tankerton for 26 years – says the win is the icing on the cake for her and husband Colin.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said. “After 26 years of running the shop, it’s time for me and Colin to enjoy ourselves.” The couple, who have two daughters and a grandson, had only been playing the Postcode Lottery since November, bagging £10 on two occasions.

At the weekend they were drawn as the winners of the Saturday Street Prize – but were initially only told they had won more than £1,000.

“It was agony,” Sheila said. “We knew we’d won but we had no idea how much.”

The couple were presented with a giant cheque in a gold envelope by the People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador, Jeff Brazier, who arrived at their door with film cameras and photographers.

A countrywide tour in a camper van now beckons for Sheila and Colin, a retired police officer who was invalided from the force in 1990 after he was run over during a burglary.

Sheila said: “When we retired at the end of June we decided to buy the camper van so that we could visit our grandson in Portsmouth anytime we want.

“It feels wonderful to win the People’s Postcode Lottery and it’s such a lovely amount of money.

“We can really enjoy our retirement now and go off and visit all the places around England we want to see.”

The couple also plan to use the money to have their driveway paved.