A gran who managed to bag a £35,000 win on the Postcode Lottery has chosen a rather strange first purchase to surprise her husband with.
And no, it's not that - get your mind out of the gutter!
Jan Frost, 75, scooped up the five-figure sum on Monday, 13 February after two years of playing the weekly prize draw - a habit which she hadn't told her husband, Mick about, meaning it was bound to be a thrill to announce.
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Since her win, Jan has shocked the UK with her sweet-yet-unusual first-purchase plans for the huge sum of money.
The 75-year-old from Knutton Crescent has decided to spoil her bird-loving husband with a pigeon coop.
You heard it right - a shiny new pigeon coop to feed hubby Mick's passion for poultry.
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Former factory worker Jan said that Mick had been taking care of racing pigeons for 70 years and decided to give up his medal-winning flock of flyers three years ago due to aching bones.
Jan says that since his last flock's departure, Mick has been left longingly "looking out the window" at the birds that land in their garden at their home in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
Now that Jan is feeling flush, she says she's willing to shell out on a new state-of-the-art pigeon hut which could cost up to £3,000.
Jan said: “As long as he’s happy, I’m happy. I do know he kept looking out the window. He doesn’t know what to do with his time now.
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“He’s missed them so much, he wants them back, and he wants to start up again. So he was looking at huts straight away.”
The mother-of-four and grandmother-of-ten said she had no clue of the size of her winnings until she received her cheques on Monday.
Describing the incredible win, Jan said: “I’m just a working-class woman. It means a lot. I can’t explain. It doesn’t feel real. It just feels like a number.
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“I thought it would be about £1,000 or £2,000. When I did see it, I nearly swore. I said, ‘flippin’ eck!’ You don’t expect anyone to win it on an estate.
“On television, it was in cul-de-sacs and nice new houses. This is a council house. It’s not bought yet, we’re still mortgaging it at our age.”
Ex-council worker Mick said that he is over the moon that Jan is willing to help him pursue his lifelong hobby once more, adding that he was 14 when he first started racing but had kept pigeons since the age of 10.
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Mick has sent his previous prize-winning flocks as far as France and raced them at Barnsley Fair, winning seventh and eighth place out of 700 pigeons that took part at the last show he attended in 2019.
Mick added: "It’s not a cheap game. I’ve got a brochure for them, and they’re £2,000 - £3,000 for a hut.
"That’s not for the perches to sit on and nest boxes for them to go in and lay their eggs. So roughly, before I start up again, it will cost £2,500.”
Jan, who was one of 12 neighbours on the street to have won sums ranging from £5,000 to £35,000, said that they also plan to take a trip to Cyprus with their prize money.
She added: “I can’t wait! I like Cyprus – I was there years and years ago and I had a champagne breakfast, and it was absolutely beautiful.”
Topics: UK News
Harley Young