New wheels for lucky Bay punters

Two of ten new Ford Rangers were up for grabs as part of a Lotto Father's Day promotion.

Two of 10 new Ford Rangers up for grabs as part of a Lotto Father's Day promotion last Saturday have come to Hawke's Bay.

Both vehicles were won by Hastings ticketholders. One of the winners got the news online, which was a first for him and his wife when it came to checking their usual Lotto tickets.

"We usually check our tickets at the Lotto shop but for some reason decided to look the numbers up online instead," said the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

"Neither of us could believe it when we saw that our number matched one of the Ford Ranger winners. It just didn't seem possible and, no matter how many times we looked at it, we just couldn't believe it."

To be 100 per cent sure, they went off to their local Lotto shop to get it checked out. "And that's when we found out we really had won a car."

Their next stopover was the car yard, where they checked out what had become their Ford Ranger, and while they love it they realised they had a slight parking problem at home.

"It's a magnificent vehicle but it won't fit in the garage. So that's something we're going to have to work out," the winner said with a laugh.

In the same draw, a Hastings woman also won a Ford Ranger.

She had been joking with her daughter that she had won one of the cars as she drove to the Lotto shop to check her tickets.

"We were checking our tickets at the self-checker when 'Ford winner' flashed up on the screen," she said.

"I grabbed my daughter's arm and said, 'Look! Look!' before checking the ticket again and again. We were screaming and shaking. We were so excited."

Both winning tickets were sold at the Unichem Stortford Lodge Pharmacy.