Burnham-on-Sea war veteran wins £685,000 lottery prize

A World War Two marine has become the oldest-ever winner of the Postcode Lottery.

Bernard Botting, 98, from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, won £685,713.

"I never thought I'd win, I just hoped. When we started the lottery, my wife and I said that if we ever won, we must share it with family, they're all going to get something," he said.

Mr Botting's wife Doris passed away in 2017, aged 93, and he has carried on playing since.

His son-in-law, Alan Marshall, joked: "You can retire now, dad," after seeing the size of his winnings.

Five of his neighbours who live nearby also received prizes of £228,571 from the Lottery.

His neighbour, Shirley Baynham, 71, thanked her late husband Les for her win.

"My husband always loved doing the Postcode Lottery, but he passed away four years ago.

"I wanted to keep it going, so I changed it over to my name.

"It seems as if he's looking down on me and looking after his sons and grandchildren."

More than 1,050 other people in Burnham-on-Sea have also won prizes of more than £1,000 after the TA8 2 postcode area was drawn.

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