National Lottery champagne glassesA man who scooped a £3.9 million lottery jackpot with his daughter has said he was always certain he would win a big prize.

Thomas Foden, 80, and his 60-year-old daughter, Irene Harper, won £3,909,990 with a shared Lotto ticket in the UK's first quadruple rollover draw on September 29.


It was a weekend to remember for Mrs Harper - she celebrated her 39th wedding anniversary with husband Barry on the same date, the day before her 60th birthday.

The identities of the father and daughter, both from Tipton, West Midlands, were revealed at a press conference at The Mount Hotel in Wolverhampton, where Mr Foden said he knew he would be a winner one day.

He added: "I always said we'd have a big win and it's a surprise now it's actually come. It's nice to think we've got money now and can do what we want with it."

Mr Foden, who worked in the building trade for most of his life, has four grandchildren, who he described as the "best grandchildren you can have". "I've always said I wanted my grandchildren to be all right and now that's made my life," he added.

Mrs Harper, who works as a full-time carer for her husband, said the money would make a huge difference to her two sons and their family. Taking a moment to compose herself as she fought back tears, she joked: "I am happy really."

She went on: "It's just that I know now that my sons are going to be okay, and that's just the main thing. It's just a bit unreal really, it's a bit hard to take in. I think it's sinking in now we've seen the cheque and everything."

The family will think about a holiday next, she added, before deciding what to do in the future. The winning lucky dip ticket - with numbers 1, 6, 7, 8, 25 and 42 - was purchased at a Costcutter store, a shop Mrs Harper had never used before but decided to try because they had just got a new lottery machine.

Mrs Harper said she did not watch the National Lottery show as normal at the weekend and only looked at Teletext an hour or so later. When she did, she thought she had five numbers and had to call her son Simon, who double-checked on his computer and then ran downstairs to tell her she had all six.