A couple who scooped a £1m lottery scratchcard prize have thanked their cat Shortcake for the win – after rushing to the shop to buy pet food.
Andrew and Paula Hancock, who run a catering business together, went to a petrol station after forgetting the cat’s dinner but instead picked up a Monopoly Millionaire Scratchcard.In the rush of excitement on realising he had landed the couple a seven-figure jackpot, Mr Hancock forgot to buy six-year-old ginger tom Shortcake’s food again – so the pet ended up with ham later that evening.
Andrew, 46, and Paula, 43, who live near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, now plan on enjoying some time off with a holiday to Australia and other trips abroad.
But so far, the only purchase they have made is a new phone for their 12-year-old son Xavier.Asked if the affectionate pet “Shorty” had brought them much luck before, Mr Hancock said: “Not particularly. He’s just a normal cat.”
The couple also added that the feline “does like a fight”, joking that he “keeps everybody up at night”.
However, Mr Hancock said he would now “absolutely” be getting an upgrade on his cat food after landing the couple a coveted spot in the millionaire’s club, following the scratchcard win on July 24.Shortcake appeared to be taking everything in his stride as the focus of photographers at a press call announcing the couple’s lottery win at The Pumping House, at Ollerton, on Tuesday.
Explaining how the win came about, Mr Hancock said: “We’d had about a 10-12-hour shift and on the way home I said ‘I’m going to nip home, and on the way I’ll get some food for tea for tonight and I’ll get some cat food’.
“I got back home and I’d forgotten the cat food.
“So I said (to Paula) ‘right I’ll take your car, fill up at the petrol station and get some cat food from the petrol station’.
“So I went into the petrol station, filled up, got a scratchcard and went back to the car and scratched it in the car – and still didn’t get the cat food.”
He added: “So I scratched the card and I’m looking at the card, in disbelief.
“So I thought, I’ll get straight home and go out for the cat food and get that later on.”Related... Check Your Lottery Tickets, You Might Be £123m Better Off Someone In The
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