National Lottery winner scoops £2m scratchcard jackpot and thanks grandad’s ghost

A National Lottery jackpot winner scooped a £2million prize on a spur of the moment scratchcard while buying spinach.

And mum-of-four Lesley Herbert, 42, thanked her granddad’s ghost for making her “feel lucky” during her grocery run.

The animal-lover from Basingstoke, Hants, said: “I popped to the shops to buy some spinach, of all things, but decided against it and ended up getting a chocolate orange bar.

“For some reason I was also feeling quite lucky, so treated myself to a Monopoly Riches National Lottery Scratchcard.

“When I went to the shop, I even said to the shop assistant ‘I’m feeling lucky today’. My grandad died in December and he always used to say to me ‘when I win the lottery, I’ll buy you the big house on top of the hill,’ so I can’t help feeling he was with me that day, telling me to buy the ticket – I just wish he was here to see it.”

The animal-lover said there was then a “crazy moment” as one of her pet parrots dislocated her foot when she got her win verified.

She went on use her scratchcard as a IOU at a vets.

Lesley said: “It was a crazy moment when I found out I had won and, just as I was waiting to get the ticket validated, everything got a little more chaotic as Bibi, one of my African Grey rescue parrots, had an accident, dislocating her foot.

“The vet team were brilliant but were very shocked when I showed them a picture of the Scratchcard as an IOU. They laughed that they’d never before been shown a £2,000,000 winning Scratchcard as a guarantee the bill would be paid!”

Lesley added she’ll use her win to buy a home and open an animal shelter – as well as go on a dream Bahamas holiday to Pig Beach to swim with swine.

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The lucky mum, who wants to get on the property ladder and house her two rescue dogs Nicko and Luna, as well as African Grey parrots Bibi and Alfie, said she also plans to finally get much-wanted chickens in the near future.

She added: “I am still trying to get my head around the win but I have already been looking for what kind of house I could buy – a farm with a bit of land would be amazing, so I can rescue more animals in need. In the longer term I would love to look at starting my own animal shelter charity.

“This win will also mean so much to my four children. I’ll be able to set them up for life, which is something I never dreamt I would ever be able to say, let alone do.

“Charity and giving back to those in need is something that is really close to my heart. I currently help an organisation by picking up close to out-of-date food from supermarkets and I distribute it to those who are in need.”