Lotto History Made By Matching Winning Tickets

Lotto history was made when two winning tickets with the same numbers were sold in shops just half a mile apart.

The newsagents who sold the matching tickets believe the winners are likely to be from the same family.

They think someone accidentally bought two tickets with the same numbers, and got a double dose of luck when those numbers were drawn in the Lotto Plus 2 draw on Saturday.

Unlike the main Lotto draw which offers each winner the share of a prize pot, this competition offers a guaranteed €250,000 payout for every winning ticket.

So if two tickets are held by the same family, they have doubled their prize money to half a million euro.

Lotto chiefs said no one has yet come forward to claim the prize.

But a Lotto spokeswoman said it was an unprecedented occurrence. While there are often multiple winning tickets in Lotto Plus draws, this was the first time that two winning tickets had been bought so close together.

"It's either the same person, or someone from the same family doing their numbers twice," she said.

"However, it could just be an extraordinary coincidence that two different people have picked the same numbers in the same town.

"Either way the top prize is paid out on each winning ticket, so if it is the same family, then they've just doubled their winnings to €500,000."

A €4 ticket was bought at Mac's Mace on High Road in the town, while another €12 ticket was bought at The Paper Post on Main Street, just half a mile away.

(H)