Customers come first for £1m lottery winner Richard
A BRECON hairdresser whose car broke down on his way to claim his £1m EuroMillions prize, bought AA membership as one of his first post-win purchases.
Richard Davies, who has owned the Chop and Change in Talgarth for the past 14 years, had dashed out to buy his lottery ticket with just four minutes to spare before the draw closed on Friday, June 1.
And he didn’t realise he had actually won £1m until he went to check his numbers the following Wednesday and was told it was too much money to pay out from a local shop.
Richard, 41, said: “I had forgotten to buy my ticket and, as ever, Friday had been frantic in the salon!
“I dashed out to the Co-op round the corner and went back there to check my numbers the following Wednesday. I waited in quite a long queue and was told they were unable to pay out such a large amount.
“I rang my partner Faye straight away and we were both in shock but I had a day full of appointments in the salon. As soon as I had a spare moment, I rang Camelot and was calmly taken through the winning process - I had to cut the call short as my client’s colour was ready and needed to be washed off!”
Now, Richard and his partner of 10 years, Faye Stevenson are planning on splashing out on their first holiday together.
Winners have the option to travel to Camelot’s Winners’ Lounge in Watford to claim their prize in person, and as it was Faye’s 36 birthday on June 12, they made the journey to the Winners’ Lounge then.
Richard said: “We made it as far as Membury Services before the car broke down and we were a bit panicked we would miss our appointment.
“Faye rang and bought AA membership, and after hearing our story, they prioritised our call-out and we arrived at the Camelot offices with five minutes to spare!
“We can’t believe our luck at all. I’m planning on carrying on at my salon but it will be great to start planning how to treat ourselves.”