Lotto win’s just perfect for couple’s anniversary

A COUPLE have celebrated their first wedding anniversary in style – by scooping a £100,000 lottery windfall.

And in a twist of fate, winner Gareth Edwards, 24, said he had always felt he would win big by the age of 25.

It’s only the latest win in a lucky streak for Gareth and his wife Emma, also 24, which started with an £800 win three weeks ago.

Gareth, from Tonypandy, who works as a ground worker for his father Paul, kicked off that streak when he matched three numbers in Lotto’s HotPicks game.

That inspired him and two colleagues to try it again – and this landed them each a share of another £800 win.

Then, while playing the Instant Lotto game on his phone during a lunch break, Gareth’s luck got even better when he won the six-figure prize.

The win could hardly have come at a better time for the couple, after Emma had lost her job as an administrator just weeks earlier.

Opening up on his big money win, Gareth said: “I didn’t initially realise how much I had won, I just knew I had won something.

“We’re keeping our feet firmly on the ground and may go back to Tenerife for another holiday, but we won’t book anything just yet.”

But while he plans to be thrifty with his win, Gareth has revealed he plans to update his Ford Fiesta car to an Audi A3.

“I’m actually feeling really calm – I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” he added.

“Since I started playing eight years ago, I have always had a feeling I would win something big by the age of 25 and now that has become a reality.”

He played with his lucky numbers – 06, 18, 30, 36, 41 and 48 – the ones he regularly uses.

The couple spent time celebrating the win with their parents in West Wales, and have discussed it with fellow Lotto winner Mike Williams from Ferndale, who was part of the fourman syndicate with Terry Robert, Lance Gifford and Gerwyn Jones that scooped £4.08m in April 2011.