I found a winning lottery ticket while cleaning out my car… it nearly got thrown out – but now I’m off on two holidays
A MAN who stumbled upon a winning lottery ticket while cleaning his car says he nearly threw it out in an expensive mistake.
Dion Davies, 47, was clearing out his motor before having it valeted when he came across a £55,086 winning EuroMillions ticket bought before Christmas.
The actor has appeared in BBC’s “Torchwood” and Sky’s “Stella” and is currently rehearsing for a play he co-created called “The Bet” which starts next month.
And he is still in shock after matching all five numbers plus one Lucky Star in the EuroMillions draw on December 20.
Dion explains how he found his winning ticket and scooped thousands on the Lotto.
The lucky ticket in question was officially announced as unclaimed by The National Lottery back in January.
Dion said: “I needed to clean the car both inside and out. It was in a terrible state after lots of journeys, so I took it for a professional valet.
“The guy asked me to take all of my belongings out before he started just in case he threw away something that was valuable! I’m glad he did.
“I found a multi lottery ticket in my sun visor that I had bought in December from Tesco in Milford Haven where I was performing in the panto.
“I took it to the Spar in Tregaron and the chap in the shop said I needed to call the number on the back of the final ticket because it was a winner!”
Dion then went home to tell his wife Ifana, and the pair then called The National Lottery to make the claim.
Dion said, “Ifana had a friend round, so she stayed with us while we made the call. When the person at the Lottery said it was a winner, we all went, together with a neighbour, for some lunch together, which of course included some fizz.”
The winning ticket was found by Dion on Thursday 2 February, six weeks after the draw and a fortnight after The National Lottery announced the ticket hadn’t been claimed, encouraging players to check their tickets.
The actor added: “Would I have left the ticket there if I had cleaned the car myself?
“Maybe, and I would have never claimed. As an actor you always have ‘rest’ periods, so the win has come in handy!”
Dion and Ifana have a 15 year old son and the three of them are planning a trip to Italy this year.
A big sci-fi fan, Dion also hopes to take his son to Comic-Con in San Diego.
The remainder of the winnings will be saved for another ‘resting’ period.
But the resting period hasn’t started just yet, with Dion’s next appearance very close to his heart.
“My next project is starring in ‘The Bet’ at The Chapter Theatre in Cardiff.
“I came across a tale, a side story to the Welsh horse ‘Norton’s Coin’ winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1990.
“It’s a story about a man close to the trainer who didn’t bet on the 100-1 outside horse winning.”
Dion has been playing EuroMillions for many years and buys a ticket every week.
His numbers are all family birthdays, and he bought his winning ticket at Tesco at the Havenhead Retail Park in Milford Haven.
The winning EuroMillions numbers for the draw on Tuesday 20 December 2022 were 1, 11, 17, 20 and 27 and Lucky Stars 4 and 5.
Thanks to National Lottery players, £30M is generated each week for National Lottery-funded projects.
To date, £47BN has been raised for National Lottery Good Causes, with more than 670,000 individual grants awarded.
Players can buy and check their tickets online by downloading the National Lottery app or at national-lottery.co.uk. Players can also buy and check tickets in retail.
Playing online via the app or website means that your ticket is checked, and you get an email notification if you win a prize.
You can also scan your retail tickets on the National Lottery app to check if you’re a winner.