CLEANING the car paid off in a big way for one Welshman, who found a lottery ticket he forgot he'd bought in the sun visor - and won tens of thousands of pounds.
Dion Davies, 47, from Ceredigion, bought the EuroMillions ticket before Christmas and more than a month later, found out he had won.
Mr Davies had bought the ticket for the December 20 draw in Tesco at Havenhead Retail Park, Milford Haven when he was playing the Dame in the Torch Theatre’s Sleeping Beauty Pantomime in Milford Haven.
The National Lottery announced in January that the prize – of £55,086 – had gone unclaimed, until more than a month after the draw when Mr Davies was clearing his car on February 2 ready for it to be valeted.
“I needed to clean the car both inside and out,” he said. “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!”
He went home and told wife Ifana, before they called The National Lottery to make the claim, finding out that he had matched all five numbers and one lucky star.
“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.
“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!”
Mr Davies has played the pantomime dame at the Torch every year since 2010 and has been in Torchwood and Stella. He is currently rehearsing for a play called The Bet which he co-created.
The couple and their 15-year-old son are planning a trip to Italy later this year, and Mr Davies wants to take his son to San Diego Comic Con, with the remainder of the winnings being saved for another rest period.
Mr Davies buys a ticket every week for the EuroMillions with the winning numbers being family birthdays – 1, 11, 17, 20 and 27, with the lucky stars as 4 and 5.
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