A MUM who won £404,510 in the lottery just days after signing up has revealed how she almost missed out on the windfall.
Lisa Hayter, from Canvey Island in Essex, had a winning ticket in the People's Postcode Lottery over the weekend.
Ms Hayter, 49, was among almost 800 residents on the island to win cash prizes after SS8 7EE was announced as the full winning postcode on Saturday.
Ms Hayter, who had only been playing the lottery for a few days, registered at the last minute on November 26.
If the mother-of-two had signed up just one day later, she wouldn't have won a pence.
She told Essex Live: “I had thought about joining then I saw a Postcode Lottery advert and it said ‘you’ve got to enter by midnight to be in this draw’ so I did it. I’m glad I did. It’s amazing!”
Ms Hayter, who was on holiday in Iceland with her husband Rodney, then almost missed the knock on her door to receive her cheque after her flight home was cancelled.
She said: “I literally just got back from Iceland yesterday. I got the phone call on Wednesday, sitting there in Iceland, and we were meant to come back on Thursday, but our flight got cancelled and we couldn’t get back until Friday."
Some 790 Canvey Island residents shared in £17.3 million, with prizes ranging from £13,305 up to a whopping £809,020.
Some locals even quadrupled their winnings by playing with multiple tickets.
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Retiree Felix Ndiweni, 60, scooped £39,915 after playing with three tickets, after expecting to win less than £10,000.
Grandmother Sheila Ely, who had never played the lottery before in her life, scooped the top prize, pocketing a cool £809,000.
The 69-year-old, who held two winning tickets, has already started planning how she'll spend her "life-changing" windfall.
Ms Ely will put the money towards buying a new bungalow with more space, as well as a holiday to Abu Dhabi to watch the Formula One.
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