A Napier man is $300,000 richer thanks to a 2-month-old Lotto Strike ticket that was floating around in his truck.
The winner bought the lucky ticket at Taradale Four Square for the September 20 Lotto draw, and has only just found out how much it's worth.
"Every now and then I do a big clean-out of my truck and this time I found a few Lotto tickets tucked away in the centre compartment," the winner said.
"I didn't think anything of it at the time because I often pop tickets in there and forget about them. I can't even remember where I bought each ticket."
The winner headed into his local Lotto store this week and was surprised to find he had been sitting on a windfall.
"I was checking the bunch of old tickets at the self-scanner and saw one of the messages showed 'Congratulations First Division win'," he relays.
"The funny thing is that I must have been in doubt because I just carried on checking the rest of them. Then I checked it again, and I must have checked it four more times before I finally went to the counter.
"I handed over a couple of small-win tickets first and then said to the retailer 'This one says it's a first division win – is that a good thing?'
"When I found out I'd won $300,000, I was in shock. It still hasn't sunk in. Although I can say it's been great timing and this win has provided real peace of mind."
The winner is still deciding how he will spend his windfall.
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