Allan buys two Postcode Lottery tickets by mistake – now he’s won £666k

A lucky pensioner doubled his money when he accidentally bought TWO Postcode Lottery tickets – and won £666,666. Allan Taylor, 65, reckons he pressed the wrong button when he signed up online for his subscription – and plumped for two tickets instead of one.

But his blunder turned into the “best mistake ever” when he was presented with two cheques for £333,333 each. His whopping windfall was the biggest prize for a single Postcode Lottery player so far this year.

Allan said: “I must have ticked it twice. This was the best mistake I’ve ever made.”

Wife Bev, 62, said: “I remember asking Allan why he had two tickets, and he said, ‘oh I don’t know’.”

Allan shared a £1 million pot with one other neighbour in the lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize on Saturday . Every ticket was worth £333,333, with Allan doubling his prize. And it landed after he had been shouting at the TV when a Postcode Lottery advert came on shortly before he got a call to say he’d won.

Allan said: “It was the night before and I was saying, ‘I think they’ve forgotten our front door’ after seeing the TV advert. Then, a few hours later we got the call.”

His big win comes just weeks after the couple retired early after months of carefully planning the next chapter of their lives.

Bev, who was a mental health nurse in an elderly dementia rapid response team, said: “I can’t believe it. We’ve literally just both retired in March. We’ve worked all our lives. I loved my job, but it was very stressful. I did wonder if I should have finished so early or stayed on until my state pension. We worked it out that it would be ok. My son kept saying, ‘it’s going to be big mum’. But I said, ‘no it’s not’. Now he’s signed up.”

Allan, a former building maintenance worker, said: “I thought, let’s retire to make the most of our lives. I’m 66 this year and retired a bit earlier than my state pension age. Now I’m not going to worry at all. This is proper unbelievable. You never really expect to win. I’m absolutely speechless, to be honest. If you come back in a fortnight, I might be able to tell you how I feel. This will blow everything out of the water.

“We were expecting a reasonable amount, maybe £10,000 to £20,000. But we were never in a million years expecting this. When I opened the second cheque my legs wouldn’t work and I struggled. But it’s a nice feeling. It’s going to enable us to help other people which is what we’ve always wanted to do. We’ll help a lot of family and friends.”

The couple plan to use some of their winnings travelling the world and treating their family.

Bev said: “I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, but Allan said he would never go unless we fly business class. We like travelling. We went to the Maldives a couple of years ago. We’ll do that again and Dubai. My son is getting married in three weeks – this might mean a bit of an extra wedding present.”

Car fanatic Allan added: “I always wanted an Aston Martin, but I’m now at an age where I could get into it but I might not get out. Maybe a Range Rover now!”

Despite their newfound wealth, the couple are staying put in their beloved bungalow.

Allan said: “We’re happy with life here and don’t want to move. The community is wonderful. We have lovely neighbours and it’s so nice, quiet and safe. This is where we wanted to retire to. We love it. I feel we couldn’t be anywhere better than where we are now. Even if I won millions I wouldn’t move. Everyone has genuinely been happy for us. It’s humbling.”