Wellingborough man learned of big lottery win on return from Romanian holiday

A Wellingborough man who bought a lottery ticket on the way to the airport found out he'd scooped more than £225,000 after returning from a holiday in Bucharest.
Leigh Hancox celebrates with a bottle of bubblyLeigh Hancox celebrates with a bottle of bubbly
Leigh Hancox celebrates with a bottle of bubbly

Leigh Hancox, a resource scheduler for the BBC, was setting off on his Romanian getaway when he saw an advert in his newspaper for the special EuroMillions Event draw on March 1.

The special draw prompted the 39-year-old to buy a ticket online and, on his way home on Sunday afternoon, he discovered he was a lucky winner.

"I do think Im quite a lucky chap in general but not for one second did I think Id be this lucky.""I do think Im quite a lucky chap in general but not for one second did I think Id be this lucky."
"I do think Im quite a lucky chap in general but not for one second did I think Id be this lucky."
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A very infrequent player, Leigh said: “In all the time the lottery has been going I’ve probably played no more than 30 times but when I saw the ad, I thought I’d play if only to have something to do while on the train.

"I do think I’m quite a lucky chap in general but not for one second did I think I’d be this lucky.

"I can honestly say, discovering a £226,436.50 win is one easy way to shift the Sunday slump!”

Leigh was in Bucharest enjoying the sights when he first realised he was a winner, having received an email from Camelot congratulating him on his win but, because he was not in the UK Leigh wasn’t able to log on to his account and assumed it was something small.

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“I really didn’t think much of the win and after a fabulous weekend I headed home with the usual post-holiday and Sunday afternoon slump, that is until I remembered to check my National Lottery account and saw I’d won £226,436.50," Leigh said.

Home alone the first people Leigh called were his mum and dad who took some convincing of their son’s lucky win and, since then, Leigh has been delighted to share the news with friends, family and work colleagues.

He said: "About five years ago I realised that with no home of my own and little pension I really needed to tighten my belt.

"I cut right back on the nice-to-do stuff and started saving, bought a place of my own and worked really hard to get into a more secure position.

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"At the end of last year, I was made redundant and worried that my security was on the line again but fate stepped in and I quickly secured another job.

"Now fate has positively leapt in and I am about ten years ahead of where I dreamt I might be.

"In some way's it feels like I’ve been given 10 years of fun back because I now have the security I always wanted and I can ease off a little on the sensible.

"I turn 40 this year, they say life beings at 40.

"I already had a five-star holiday booked to Australia and New Zealand to celebrate – booked and paid for through some savvy airmiles and points gathering – now I can think about a few extras to really make this a year to remember."