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Arnold taxi driver scoops £1m lottery prize
A taxi driver from Arnold has picked up the best fare of his life - scooping a £1m lottery win. Gordon Rees won the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker prize in the draw of Tuesday June 21. He was handed the cheque at Eastwood Hall in Mansfield Road, Eastwood, on Friday morning.
He bought the ticket on June 21, the longest day of the year, but said the wait to confirm he had won the money also made the last week the longest of his life. The 63-year-old cabbie popped out for a pint of milk and buy his usual two Lucky Dips on his way home from work.
After being handed what turned out to be the winning ticket, the father-of-three then went on to win his weekly dominoes game, before scooping £53 from the fruit machine in his local, The Fox in Valley Road. He then went home and checked his lottery numbers - and realised he had won the seven-figure sum.
"I don't usually buy my lottery tickets from the Co-op but decided as I was there I may as well buy my usual two Lucky Dips for that night's EuroMillions draw," he said. "I checked the number on the TV around 11:30pm and didn't see any matched numbers other than a five, and then looked at the Raffle code – I couldn't believe they all matched.
"I shouted to my daughter Charlotte to come downstairs to check the code too and she said, yes, it all matched, and I was a millionaire! I couldn't sleep, and after lots of cups of tea I decided to go along to the taxi base to spend time with the rest of the lads."
As well as Charlotte, 19, Mr Rees also has another daughter, Lydia, who is 15, and a son, Oliver, who is 21. He said he will be using the money to help them financially, buy a new car and a house, and go on holiday to Mauritius - but he won't be retiring just yet. "I enjoy my job so I think I will do another year or so," he said. "I'm still speechless. Money has always been very tight and this will allow me to take the pressure off."
Charlotte, who is a florist, said: "It was a surreal moment and it didn't really feel like it was real. I woke up the next day wondering if it was a dream. That's what it feels like. "I'm quite glad he is going to carry on working. I wouldn't want him to just drop everything and he's always enjoyed his job, so it will keep him busy."
Oliver added: "They Facetimed me that night because I was at university in Leeds and I didn't believe it. I'm quite proud he is going to carry on working. We're a hard-working family and I wouldn't want it to change him." "This man is a legend he brought my kids iPads back when they left them in his taxi well done mate good karma xx," wrote Tara Robinson.
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