TWO dozen neighbours in an Essex village scooped more than £2 million on Saturday as part of a national postcode lottery.
Tracie Barry, 43, and her neighbour David Carter, 57, both from Boreham, won £666,666 and £333,333 respectively after their CM3 3GY postcode was picked out as the winner in the People's Postcode Lottery millions draw.
The charitable lottery scheme, which costs £10 per month for a ticket and donates 45p in every £2 to a number of charities, sees players sign up using their postcode to be entered into various smaller draws per month – and every two months, players have the chance to win millions after a randomly selected postcode is announced.
Twenty-two others in Boreham shared another £1 million between them and got their cheques at a special ceremony at Crix, Hatfield Peverel, at the weekend.
Ms Barry, a welfare officer at a housing association who plays with two tickets, attended the celebration with her partner, Paul.
She said: "I am feeling very emotional – I will definitely be celebrating tonight. When they revealed my first cheque for £14,590, I was delighted – but when I saw that it was my full postcode that had won I was left utterly stunned. I have phoned my two sons Sean and Nick and I don't think they believe me. They'll definitely believe me when they see my amazing cheque when I get home."
Ms Barry's partner Paul, a builder's merchant, spoke of his reaction to the moment that the huge prize was revealed.
"I really thought I was going to faint," he said.
Ms Barry, who has only been playing the People's Postcode Lottery since January, has already decided what she'll be spending some of her money on.
"It was my dad's 90th birthday just last week and he's always wanted a bungalow so I am so happy that we'll be able to help."
Also celebrating his big win on the day was civil servant David Carter, who was with his wife Ladda and daughter Cheryl.
Mr Carter said: "This will definitely change our lives forever.
"This is just fantastic, this is all for my wife.
"She's the best wife ever and everything I have ever done is for her. Whatever she wants to do with the money is her decision."
Mr Carter and his wife have been married for 36 years and are planning to head off to Thailand to renew their marriage vows.
"We're going to have the big wedding we've always wanted but could never afford – it's going to be amazing," said the 57-year-old.
"I only started playing three months ago but I'll definitely continue to play even though I've won. I have six brothers and five sisters and I'll be making sure they all sign up now."
Speaking how he felt when he heard, he said: "It was a daze – the air was sucked out of my body. You just don't know what to say. It's not sunk in yet." He added that he felt "relief" and was happy.
Ms Barry and Mr Carter were the only two people who lived in the full selected postcode – but 22 others benefited from extra cash as they lived in the winning CM3 3 sector.
One of those was Nicola Orchard, who, having already won £43,770, also picked up the keys to a brand new BMW 1 Series.
Nicola said: "My husband didn't believe me when I told him I'd won the money. There is no way he's going to believe me when I tell him about the car."
Another person to leave richer than he arrived was Paul Luxon, who was at the event with his wife Heidi.
They scooped £116,720 – and the pair are off to Venice in a few weeks to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, returning to the spot where they spent their honeymoon.
Mr Luxon said: "We'll definitely use some of the money on our trip, but we have two boys, one who is at university, so I am delighted that we'll be able to help him out."
