Loanhead residents hit the People's Postcode Lottery jackpot

And it was a real family affair with many relatives and neighbours celebrating together at a special reception at Melville Castle, Lasswade.

A total of 225 players won a share of the prizemoney when postcode sector EH20 9 was revealed as a winner.

Six postcode winners each received £187,500 while a seventh winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, played with two tickets and won £375,000.

Audrey Coyle (39) couldn’t believe it when it was revealed she played with the full winning postcode – EH20 9LF (Paradykes Avenue) – and scooped £187,500.

She said: “This means we can pay off our mortgage and I can maybe even work fewer hours because of this. It really means a lot.”

And Audrey wasn’t alone to pick up a big cheque on stage. Sister, Michelle Harrison, collected a £187,500 cheque on behalf of their mother, Gail Duncan, who was unable to attend.

“Even though I don’t play myself, I’m delighted that my mum and Audrey have won such huge amounts. I feel like I should get a percentage since I collected the money,” Michelle joked.

The family intend to celebrate together very soon. With Audrey’s 40th birthday coming up as well as Gail’s 60th, there are a lot of reasons to get together.

Another pair of sisters at the event were Tricia Wellington and Pam Semple, who won £5,338 and £10,670 respectively. “We’ve both lived in Loanhead all our lives. The whole community has been buzzing over the announcement of our win, it’s so lovely to celebrate together,” said Pam.

The sisters were cheering on their cousin, Jill Peacock, who collected her £187,500 cheque.

“To win this amount is just baffling and completely life-changing,” she said. “I’ve been playing for four years so to win now is unreal. Today has been magical and to win with my cousins has made it even more special.”

Jill, who works as a hairdresser, said that the win was completely surreal and would take a while to sink in. “It’s not just amazing for me either,” she said.

“It’s fantastic that players like myself have raised over £168 million for charities. That’s one of the reasons I signed up.”