A PEOPLE’S Postcode Lottery winner nearly missed out on collecting his £111,000 prize.
Michael Whitaker, from Keighley in West Yorkshire, had to beg his boss for the day off – and colleagues weren’t impressed.
The self-confessed adrenaline junkie rang up his boss to ask for the day off so he could be given the huge cheque.
She was forced to lie to her staff who were expecting to see Michael in an 11am meeting.
He said: “I rang my boss and told her Postcode Lottery are here. But I had a design and compliance finance meeting at 11am and I had all the figures.
“Luckily, my boss was ecstatic for me and said she wouldn’t tell anyone in the meeting as to why I couldn’t make it.”
Michael joined others on his street in bagging £111,111, which he hopes to use towards a “once-in-a-lifetime” tour around the Norweigan Fjords.
Michael, who has scuba dived all around the country, said he was astounded when he received the cheque.
“When I saw the cheque, I thought £11,000 and then… I processed it and there was six digits! It’s incredible,” he said.
When asked what he was going to do with all of the extra money he said he dreamt of taking his new motorbike, a Triumph Tiger 900, on a road trip.
“I’ve got to an age where I want to see more, and I recently bought the motorbike to go adventure riding.
“I’d love to go to Norway and Sweden. Just go and not have anywhere booked and see where I end up.
“I’ve done a lot of things and seen a lot of things that nobody’s seen, and I want to carry on doing that and push myself more,” he said.
He added: “You have dreams but they’re not dreams anymore now. This brings them into reality.”
The clerk landed the massive cash prize along with eight of his neighbours in Shann Crescent, Keighly, after their postcode BD21 2TN landed the weekly Millionaire Street prize on Monday.
People's Postcode Lottery is a subscription lottery which raises money for charities.
Every cheque was worth £111,111.
Across the road, Sanna Babar, who also cashed in the six-figure sum, said she is now planning a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida for her two daughters.
She said: “We were thinking of going to Disneyland Paris in August next year, but it could be Florida now!”
“I was trying to save up money, but I don’t need to do that now and I could bring my mum and dad too. It was a sort of fantasy before, but I’m going to do it,” she added.
