Peterborough dance teacher wins nearly quarter of a million pounds on Postcode Lottery

A dance teacher has waltzed off with £235,292 despite missing a string of calls to let her know she had won the lottery.

Anita Winter, 60, who runs the Tu Danse school in Peterborough quickstepped home from her dance school after husband Vince phoned to say People’s Postcode Lottery was at the door.

The couple, who live in Eastrea, who have been wed for 40 years, had missed messages telling them their postcode – PE7 2AS – had landed the Lottery’s £1 million Millionaire Street prize on Saturday, November 11.

‘We might just nip to Melbourne’

And after her windfall was revealed, Anita beamed: “When I opened that cheque one of the first thoughts that I had was ‘we might just nip to Melbourne’.”

Transport manager hubby Vince, 63, added: “It would be nice to turn left on a plane for the first time!”

Mum-of-two Anita shared the cash with 13 neighbours. Each ticket was worth £58,823, but Anita banked £235,292 thanks to playing with four.

Anita said: “We’re at the stage now where we’ve been talking about semi-retiring and looking forward to the next stage of our lives.

“This will be a really big help towards that, to be able to start making plans for the future and to maybe help the kids along the way a little bit as well.

“Both our sons, James and Jason, are in the performing arts. James has done lots of musicals too, like Les Miserables and Jersey Boys, but he is retraining as an accountant at the moment.

“James has two sons so it will be lovely to treat them to something - they’ll have a lovely Christmas thanks to Postcode Lottery!”

‘My late husband Paul will be looking down on us today’

The £58,823 win was bittersweet for care home worker Caroline Buist a year after the death of her husband, who had originally signed up for the Lottery.

Now grandmother Caroline, 65, is planning to help her family – in tribute to hubby Paul.

She said: “I wish my husband Paul was here to see it. He passed away last year.

“It was him who started the lottery. I think he’s looking down on us today.

“I’m 66 at the end of the year and I’ll be retiring. This will mean I can do a lot of the things that me and my husband said we would always do if we won the lottery.”

Nearby neighbour Melissa Setchfield told how it’s not the first time her house has bagged her a big win – because it’s also how she met hubby John.

Former estate agent Melissa, 50, met John, 54, when she sold him the house in the winning postcode 27 years ago. The pair now plan to use their £58,823 winnings to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary.

Charities benefit from win

The neighbours’ wins have also boosted charities in the Peterborough area.

A combined total of £1 million is being shared between local charities in the winning Millionaire Street areas as part of November’s Postcode Lottery draws.

SERV Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, also known as the “Blood runners”, was awarded £30,000 by the Postcode Places Trust.

Other charities to benefit include the RSPCA and No Pain, No Gain.