‘This can’t be real’: Factory worker wins £1m on scratch card while popping out to local Co-op store for bread

A factory worker has said the “stars aligned” after he won £1 million on a scratch card following a quick trip to the shops for bread.

Luke Harris, 34, from Canterbury in Kent, headed to his local Co-op store in Island Road to buy a loaf of bread, but came home with a £1 million-winning Merry Millionaire National Lottery scratch card.

He said: “I keep thinking someone is going to take it all away from me and tell me it’s a prank.”

Mr Harris, who lives with his fiancee, Alison Coke, 34, and their four children, said: “We’ve already purchased a new family car, a Nissan X-Trail. We are looking at a wedding venue – we got engaged last September but had to put it on the back burner as the house was the priority.”

Mr Harris said the winning number he scratched off was 31, which is the couple’s lucky number after they had their first date on August 31 2020.

“We only moved into our new house three months ago – that was by fluke. We hadn’t considered the area, but the estate agent sent it through to us by mistake and we decided to look at it – we ended up loving it. We put an offer in, and it was ours,” he said.

“If we weren’t in the area I wouldn’t have gone to that shop and won £1 million. It feels like the stars have aligned with the house and the win.

“The number 31 also appears to be our lucky number. It was the last number I scratched off to reveal the winning amount. It was also when Alison and I went on our first date – 31 August 2020.”

The couple went to the same school but reconnected years later on social media.

“It took some persuading, but she finally agreed to go on a coffee date with me. Six hours later, coffee had turned into dinner and drinks, and we’re now engaged to be married,” he said.

Mr Harris said it was “just your average Wednesday night” when he won the jackpot.

“Whilst I was in the shop buying my loaf of bread, I decided to buy a scratchcard on a whim. I scratched it as soon as I got in the car,” he said.

“I looked at it about 10 times, and kept saying to myself, ‘This can’t be real’. I try my luck on a scratch card now and again, but I never imagined I would win that amount – I would have been happy with £10.”

He plans to take his family to Lapland and hopes to use the money go back into education and start his own business.

“We want to pay off the mortgage and put money away for the kids – paying the mortgage off changes our lives tenfold. We are going skiing in February as a family, and we want to go to Lapland next Christmas. That will be the most extravagant holiday we’ve ever had,” he said.

“I want to try something new, work wise. I am looking at starting my own business eventually.

“I’m not sure what that will be yet, but I want to go back to college and invest in myself. That is one of the best investments you can make.”

Ms Coke said she and Mr Harris had to “contain ourselves” after finding out about the win and opted to carry on their regular evening routine with their children before celebrating as a family with a game of bowling and dinner.

The scratch card costs £5 and prizes range from £5 to the jackpot of £1 million.

The National Lottery said it has made more than 7,200 millionaires and raised over £49 billion for its Good Causes programme for grassroot communities, heritage sites, the arts and sports.