‘I quadrupled lottery win with late wife’s tickets!’

A stunned grandad who kept playing his late wife’s lottery tickets has quadrupled his winnings.

Malcolm Blanche, who lives in Sandgate, near Folkestone, won a staggering £266,664 in the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Mr Blanche and his wife Carolyn bought two tickets each when they first signed up years ago.

After she died in 2019, the 72-year-old continued to play with their four tickets.

Now the army veteran – who served in the former Queen’s Regiment in Belfast – is celebrating after pocketing the cash.

“My wife recently died. She had two tickets and I had two. I just decided to keep them on. She’d be over the moon and shaking right now,” he said.

“When I saw the first cheque, I thought ‘that’ll do’, then it came again, again and again!

“I’m chuffed when I get a tenner.”

He landed the windfall with 10 other neighbours after CT20 3NG won Postcode Lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize on Saturday, June 15.

Every ticket was worth £66,666, but Malcolm quadrupled his prize by playing with the four tickets.

Another neighbour doubled their winnings with two tickets.

The win is a change in fortune for Mr Blanche as he recovers from breaking his right shoulder in a hot tub accident in April.

Now retired – he is considering how to spend the cash.

The dad-of-two added: “First of all, we’ll go out for a meal tonight and then I don’t really know what else, to be honest. I’m doing the garden, so I will get that sorted.

“I might go on holiday. I like the Isle of Wight and Edinburgh.

“I’ll help the family too.”

Mr Blanche was among many other lucky winners in the street as neighbour Rebecca Goddard won £66,666.

The probation officer described it as “unbelievable” and says she is going to “spend, spend, spend”.

“I’m going to have the best time ever and do some nice things with some nice people. We’re going to have an amazing few years,” said the 42-year-old.

The divorced mum-of-two has a long wish list, including spoiling her son, 11, and eight-year-old daughter, treating her parents, holidays and house DIY.

She added: “I’ll start by taking the family out for a meal to a Turkish restaurant. It means neither mum nor I will have to cook. Tonight’s on me, so that’s going to be really nice.

“I’m going to a hen do in Malaga next month, so that might buy some drinks and maybe a new bikini.

“It’s my birthday later this month and my son’s is the day after mine, so he is already making a list.

“My daughter wants to go to Walt Disney World in Florida and swim with dolphins, so we may do something like that.”

Along the street, dancing great-gran Shirley Hehir waltzed in her back garden with lottery ambassador Judie McCourt after winning £66,666.

The 83-year-old widow – who goes to tea dances four times a week – now plans on buying a bigger car and treating her growing family.

The keen gardener, who has four grandchildren, said: “Oh Lord almighty! Never in my life have I seen a cheque that big.

“It’s wonderful. It feels amazing. I think I’m going to cry.”

Shirley has had to endure unbearable tragedies in her life after her soldier son Leslie, 34, was killed during the Iraq War in 2003 – three months after her husband Jim died of leukaemia, aged just 62.

She added: “It is hard to bear and it never goes away, but then I also think how lucky I am. My daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren keep me going.”

Diagonally opposite, primary teacher Kendra Charman and her husband Simon also won the £66,666 prize.

After collecting the winnings, Mrs Charman, 48, is determined to get her house knocked into shape – even if it means paying for it herself.

The mum-of-two said: “This is amazing, incredible. Thank you so much. The kids will probably ask when we’d going on holiday. We need to spend it on some sensible stuff.

“We’ve had building work on the go for five years and I said that if we got £5,000 that’s what I will be doing with it.

“You always hope you can win something, but it is also great for the charities so it benefits everyone.”

But petrolhead Mr Charman has his sights set on some new wheels – like a Porsche 911 or upgrading his Kawasaki ZX-9R.

The 53-year-old said: “I like the Porsche 911, there are so many variants. As far as motorbikes go, I like the MV Augusta F4. It’s got four little exhausts. I love the styling of it.”

Because they won Millionaire Street, one local charity has benefitted with The Sports Trust being awarded £75,000 by Postcode Community Trust.

The charity, based in the South East, celebrates sport as a powerful tool for social improvement and has been an integral part of the Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh community since 2013.

The Sports Trust works across schools, sports clubs and the local community to dismantle participation barriers and give everyone an equal opportunity to participate in sport.

Chris Kent, chief operating officer at t, said: “The £75,000 in funding we’ve received is going to be a game changer for The Sports Trust.

“The money will allow us to carry out our plans to switch to solar energy in one of our main venues and, in turn, significantly reduce long-term running costs.”

“From climbing and boxing, to an array of sea sports, we are dedicated to creating safe, sustainable and inclusive spaces for people to love sport and exercise.”