Man wins £125k after forgetting to cancel ticket

A man who forgot to cancel his direct debit to the Postcode Lottery at the request of his girlfriend has pocketed £125,000 in October's lottery draw.

James Adams, a 31-year-old graphic designer from Kingswood, said his girlfriend had asked him to cancel his subscription because they were saving for a wedding.

He was one of eight people from a neighbourhood in Kingswood near Bristol to win the October draw as part of the subscription lottery where winners in the same postcode share the prize money.

"Thank God for just being lazy and really silly," said Mr Adams. "Incompetence pays off."

"My girlfriend asked me to cancel the postcode lottery a couple of months ago because we're saving for a few things and to be honest, I forgot," he added.

The couple, who got engaged three years ago, said they will spend the money on a new bathroom and a honeymoon in New Zealand.

"Thank goodness he didn't," said his fiancée, Rohanna Coulthard.

The couple shared a £1m pot of cash with seven other neighbours after their postcode won the lottery's weekly Millionaire Street Prize.

Every ticket was worth £125,000.

Kingswood was the first location announced in October's draw, with four winning locations to be announced.

Local charities in each of the five winning areas will share a combined total of £1m to support their work.

One of the other winning neighbours was social worker Gemma Marson-May, who joined the People's Postcode Lottery after getting a "strong feeling" she would win.

"It sounds like nonsense, but something said to me that if I didn't sign up, I'd be stupid," she said.

Ms Marson-May and her fiancée are looking to plan a holiday and buy a house.

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