A FAMILY has shared how they won a £1m Lottery jackpot but couldn’t claim it due to a bizarre ‘technicality’.
After checking the National Lottery app, Linda Cobb saw a message alerting her of a life-changing win.
But when she could not get through to the National Lottery phone lines, the family did not know what to do and were lost for words.
Fearing the worst, she desperately asked her husband to look at the app himself.
Mr Cobb said: “To be honest I was a bit grumpy and couldn’t be bothered to find my glasses but when your wife of 45 years uses ‘that’ voice and says, ‘no, you really need to read this’, you know you’d better find your glasses!”
Not knowing whether they had won the life-changing sum, the family went on a 10 mile bike ride to pass the time.
Once the National Lottery phonelines were finally open, Linda was able to check the family syndicate for her husband.
Finally, it was confirmed that her husband and his two sisters had won £1,000,000.
The jackpot was shared by the group who formed a syndicate at a Christmas get together in 1994.
Each banking £250,000, the mother and her three children have managed to claim the life-changing win after matching five main numbers and the Bonus Ball.
Drawn on Saturday June 22, the family from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire could not believe the news of their incredible jackpot.
After the win was confirmed Mr Cobb said he visited his mother.
“I told mum I had some good news and wanted to tell her and my sisters at the same time, she immediately said ‘have we won the Lottery’ so my plan was slightly scuppered,” he said.
“We called Carol and Sandra on a group call – Sandra was at the allotment and was so shocked by the news a fellow gardener had to pop over to make sure she didn’t faint, while Carol just burst into tears knowing that her housing woes were a thing of the past.”
The win could not have come at a better time with Mr Cobb explaining that his sister believed she would never have her own home again after a ‘tough few years’.
Mr Cobb never had any doubt that they had won.
He added: “I’ve always been the one to say we will win, I’ve never been in any doubt, so from that Christmas catch up when we jokingly set up the syndicate a few months after the first Lotto draw in November 1994, I’ve been waiting for this moment.
“To be able to share it with my family is the icing on the cake, and to see that it will help the wider family is the cherry on top.”
The Cobb’s syndicate winning Lotto ticket for the draw on Saturday, June 22 was bought online, using the National Lottery app.
The winning numbers were 5, 9, 18, 32, 44 and 58, and their ticket matched five numbers and number 34 Bonus Ball.
