Taxi Driver Online

Gosforth taxi firm syndicate one ball off £27m win




THEY were a digit away from a fortune – but these slump-hit cabbies were still revved up after winning a slice of the EuroMillions.

The 17-strong syndicate scooped £80,920.50 - and revealed they one number away from the £27m jackpot.

But they were still delighted when Lottery bosses presented them with their cheque yesterday at the Gosforth Marriott Hotel in Newcastle.

The group, sixteen taxi drivers and one clerk at Gosforth-based Park Taxis, each put in £4 a week and get two lots of 17 lines.

For the past six months they have been dreaming of winning after their takings were down due to the economy. And on Tuesday their numbers came up as 2, 8, 10, 23, 25, and 8 as a bonus star number were pulled out.

Driver and part firm owner, Steve Bell, 61, of Chester-le-Street, said: “We are all down on our takings this year so this is a nice windfall for all of us.

“By the time the money is split into 17 ways we will get £4,760 each. That will make up for what we have lost.

“Our numbers came up and we got one of the star balls. The other star ball was the number 9 and we had the number 10, which means we were one off winning the jackpot of £27m. But anything is a bonus.”

Grandad-of-three Steve, who is suffering from cancer, said: “This is a bit of good news for me. I took ill on December 20 last year and have been off work for about nine months. This money has come at a perfect time for Christmas this year.”

Syndicate leader Dave Davies, 64, from Dunston, said: “As a syndicate we always put on our 17 lines but have never won anything more than £28. The draw was on Tuesday but I didn’t check the tickets until I was back in work the following morning. I always check the numbers on the PC at work and then check them against our lines which we have printed out and up on the display board in the office.

“At first I realised we had three numbers, then four, then five, then one of the lucky star numbers. It was unbelievable I was shaking with excitement. I then checked the second lucky star number and we were just one number off a clean sweep. We needed a nine for the jackpot but had a 10.

“When we contacted Camelot directly that’s when everyone realised it was real. We’re all over the moon with our win.”

DAVE DAVIES

DAVE Davies, 64, of Dunston, Gateshead, has been a taxi driver for 18 years. He has two children and four grandchildren.

He said: “My winnings will make me a free man as I will be clearing off my mortgage and taking my wife to Cyprus. She loves Cyprus so I think we will be going on holiday there next year.

“Of course it would have been great to win the £27 million, each getting around £1,582,000, but we are all so happy with the winnings we have. £4,760 means so much to me. To be mortgage free and have a little left over is wonderful.

“If we did win the £27m I would buy houses for my two kids and a little motor mechanic business for my son.”


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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

At least their feet are on the ground I remember the Leicester taxi syndicate years ago that got all 6 balls in the main lotto draw and packed up work that night only to find out the very next day that more than 20 other people had also won the Jackpot because the numbers that came up were actually a set that a newspaper had published as a prediction (early years of the lottery) and they had only won a few thousand each !

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector