An extra-special delivery had a Cowdenbeath woman reeling in surprise on Monday.
Christine Smith had been expecting a windfall of around £500 when her postcode came up trumps on the People’s Postcode Lottery.
She thought her winnings might cover a trip to Blackpool to see her brother John, who has a hotel in the seaside resort but now the world is her oyster as the anticipated £500 turned into a jaw-dropping £30,000.
It turned out that Christine was the only resident of her street to play the lottery, and so she won the entire £30,000 earmarked for players in her postcode area.
“I cannot believe it I just cannot take it in,” she said after receiving her bumper cheque.
Christine and husband Patrick were not expecting the massive cash prize and had no plans apart from treating the family.
“I’ve been attending the hospital twice a week and Patrick has also been in hospital, so we’d not be able to go away just now anyway,” Christine said.
“I really just cannot think right now. I have two great- grandchildren on the way, though, so this will come in handy. And one of my grandchildren, Kayleigh, is 21 next month, so…”
Christine is a mother of three, with daughters Sharon and Carolyn and son Gordon, a grandmother three times over and she will welcome a great-grandchild next month and a second this September.
She said Gordon was disabled and she was hoping to use some of her winnings for a treat for him too.
Formerly of Bowhill, and latterly Lochgelly, Christine started playing the lottery almost from its inception and staked £2 a week but she had no idea that her modest flutter would pay such huge dividends.
“They phoned on Thursday to say I had won something but I seriously thought about £500 or £1000,” she said. “I had no idea it would be anything like this amount.”
And husband Patrick said, “We will be able to look after ourselves. We don’t have a car, so we won’t be going out and buying a new one or anything like that.
“We can’t believe we were the only ones in the street. We are so lucky.”