6 of the biggest lottery wins in the North East and North Yorkshire

Here we take a look back at some of the National Lottery winners from our region who have gone public with their fortune or where winning tickets have been bought in the North East over the last 18-months.

Read more: Police investigate overnight attempted burglary at soft play centre

We've also included Postcode Lottery winners to reveal some of the lucky locations where residents have scooped thousands of pounds in the last year.

Read more: Teesside man wins Euromillions lottery ticket and is splashing the cash

These lucky winners are proof that one day it could be you!

June 2022

The People’s Postcode Lottery revealed the North East postcodes where players won a £1,000 prize in June.

The lucky residents lived in the following postcode areas: DL3 6QH – Harrison Terrace, Darlington DH1 2UJ – Birkdale Gardens, Sherburn TS9 7JB – Chop Gate DL12 9AZ - Lartington Lane, Barnard Castle DH6 4GA – Doulton Court, Coxhoe TS25 4HS – Swift Grove, Hartlepool.

May 2022

A winning Lottery ticket was won by a Teesside resident known only as Mr R from Cleveland.

He bought the ticket in the North East and matched the five main numbers and one Lucky Star number in the draw on May 20.

He took home a grand total of £165,376.40 after the company verified his ticket and revealed that he plans to spend the cash on paying off his mortgage.

April 2022

This month it was revealed that a Lottery-winning Hartlepool woman who has given away more than half of her £115 million fortune said she is addicted to giving to others and has no plans to stop any time soon.

Frances Connolly of Hartlepool can't stop giving her winnings away Picture: PA

Frances Connolly revealed she has already busted the charity budget she agreed for this year with husband Paddy – and has given away what they would have donated up to 2032.

The 55-year-old former social worker and teacher has set up two charitable foundations, one named after her late mother Kathleen Graham in their native Northern Ireland, and the PFC Trust in Hartlepool, where the couple have lived for 30-years.

The Connollys won on the EuroMillions in 2019 and immediately gave away large chunks of cash to friends and family, using a list she prepared in advance of the win – which she always believed would happen.

She estimates she has given away £60m, including to charity, but does not keep a tally, joking she would be worried in case her 57-year-old husband saw it.

January 2022

Camelot, the operator of The National Lottery, confirmed that a winning million-pound Lottery ticket was bought in the region at the start of 2022.

Camelot said it received a claim for the £1,000,000 EuroMillions European Millionaire Maker prize from a ticket bought in North Tyneside for the special EuroMillions draw on January 21.

EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker guarantees to create a millionaire in every draw, but the special event draw on January 21 saw 100 guaranteed millionaires made across, with 25 won by ticket-holders in the UK.

October 2021

Three neighbours in Consett scooped a huge £90,000 win with the People’s Postcode Lottery.

The County Durham postcode DH8 0RW was announced as a winner with the lottery earlier this month, landing three neighbours £30,000 each.

Winner Sarah Barnes and her husband Steve

Sarah Barnes, 44, one of the lucky winners netted the cash thanks to her fortunate postcode and only found out how much she’d won after the lottery representatives knocked on her door.

She said at the time: “It feels like a dream. A really bizarre, really strange feeling, a very happy feeling.”

July 2021

A mum-of-four netted over £750,000 with the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Rachel Fearns, 32, was one of 258 residents in the Hamsterley and Wolsingham areas to land a prize after DL13 3 was announced as July’s Postcode Millions winning sector.

She received her very own knock on the door from lottery ambassador Judie McCourt who presented her with her prize cheque. As the cheque for £378,075 was revealed, Rachel said: “Oh my God! That’s ridiculous, I can’t believe that.”

But there was even more to come.

As Rachel plays with two tickets, she received a second golden envelope bringing her total winnings to a stunning £756,150. 

She added: “That’s incredible, I have no words.

"All the cliches! I’m dumbfounded. Never in a million years did I think this would happen, and for that sum of money; it’s incredible.”

Postcode Lotter winner Rachel Fearns

March 2021

Camelot revealed that someone in the North-East was still to claim a £1m Lotto win, almost a month after the successful draw.

The Lottery operators confirmed one of two, as yet, unclaimed £1m prize-winning tickets from the Saturday February 27 draw, was bought in County Durham.

The winning numbers were 4, 33, 36, 39, 45 and 49, with the bonus ball 20.

Both winning tickets, the other being bought in Northamptonshire, matched five of the numbers, plus the bonus.

Each ticket holder had until August 26 to claim their prize or the money will go to lottery-funded projects.

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