Andrew Hancock bought the scratchcard because he forgot to buy food for pet cat Shortcake
A lucky couple are celebrating after scooping the £1,000,000 on a National Lottery Scratchcard – all because of their lucky pet cat, Shortcake.
Andrew and Paula Hancock, from Boughton, scooped the top prize on the MONOPOLY Millionaire Scratchcard, and Shortcake's forgotten food was the reason for their good fortune.
Andrew bought the lucky scratchcard because the couple had run out of cat food for their ginger moggy Shortcake, and he intended to get some on his way home from work, but he forgot.
Andrew explained: "I decided to take Paula’s car and fill it up with fuel and then get the cat food. While paying for the fuel I just bought a MONOPOLY Millionaire scratchcard because I’d won £100 twice on the same card recently.
“I decided to scratch the symbols on the scratchcard while sitting in the car at the petrol station before going home. I looked and looked again and started to get a bit hot when I realised I had won.
"But I wasn’t 100% and I didn’t know what to do. Should I call The National Lottery to see if I had won the prize there and then, because I could be wrong, or go home to do it with Paula?
“I decided to go home and called Paula as soon as I walked through the front door. I don’t usually swear, but I did, and beckoned her over to check the ticket with me. After checking the ticket quite a few times and just staring at it I called the National Lottery Line to claim the prize.”
Paula, a town councillor at Ollerton and Boughton Town Council, said: “We just started screaming and jumping up and down in the kitchen whilst still on the phone to the lady at The National Lottery.”
The couple then drove to Paula’s sister, Vaneita, to tell her of the good news. By this time it was late evening, but after more calls to Paula’s parents, the whole family went back to the Hancock’s home and sat outside celebrating until the early hours.
Paula said: “Andrew couldn’t stop singing and jumping up and down, I was the same but burst into tears when I saw my Mum and Dad.”
That night, Andrew and Paula, who run their own catering company called Jaspers, hid the scratchcard in a Gordon Ramsay cookbook for safe keeping until a Winners’ Advisor from The National Lottery visited the couple to validate the win.
The MONOPOLY Millionaire scratchcard has been a source of good fortune in recent weeks for the Hancock family. Andrew has bought two and won £100 twice, the second one just a week before bagging the top prize.
And what of Shortcake, the lucky feline whose missing food was the reason for the extra trip, the scratchcard and the million pound win?
Amusingly, Andrew actually forgot to buy him any food after realising he had won.
He said: “With everything going on I forgot again. The poor thing had a slice of ham for his tea that night but I did make a special trip the next day to the supermarket for his food. And I’m sure Shortcake is going to be treated. If it wasn’t for Shortcake we wouldn’t be millionaires!”
Andrew and Paula are planning to take a trip to see relatives in Australia with their winnings, and they also are thinking of booking a trip to see the Olympics in Japan next year.
Andrew said: “Our 12-year-old son Xavier is a green belt in Judo and enjoys competing, we want to take him to see the Olympics in Japan, the home of Judo.”
Other items on their shopping list include new cars and paying off the mortgage.
