I've won big on the People's Postcode Lottery just weeks after my dad died - and so has my son

A grieving mum has thanked her late dad for winning a £100,000 lottery prize just two weeks after he died – with her son also hitting the jackpot.

Tracy Mellor, 54, had just cancelled her dad’s People’s Postcode Lottery ticket before she got a phone call telling her she’d won the next day. And the mum-of-three, surrounded by her family, wept when the lottery revealed her postcode SK8 3NS had landed a £1 million prize in Heald Green, Stockport.

Tracy said: “That’s me dad that. He died two weeks ago. My dad’s done this for me. It’s bittersweet but my dad is shining down on me.” 

Dad-of-six Peter Kemp, who died at the age of 75, had played the Postcode Lottery for years before Tracy followed suit and started playing. Tracy had the difficult task of organising her beloved dad’s finances following his passing. And it was only a day after she cancelled her dad’s direct debits, which included his Postcode Lottery ticket, that she found out that the Postcode Lottery would be turning up at her door. 

Tracy’s sister Adele believes their dad, who was a keen poker player, has passed on his ‘golden luck’.

She said: “He loved his poker, and he won a golden ticket at a Bolton poker tournament, a few weeks before he died. Now Tracy’s got one too.”

Tracy’s son Joe Mellor, 31, found out he’d also bagged £100,000 after his parents revealed his winning cheque over a FaceTime call. Jet-setting Joe, who is currently travelling the Mediterranean, said the win is ‘unbelievable’ and ‘life-changing.’

“I still can’t believe it,” he said. “I couldn’t hold the phone straight, my hands were shaking all over the place. It’s even more special to win it with my mum. She’s had such a tough time recently and she deserves this more than anyone.” 

Joe, who was in Malta when he found out he’ll be returning home to £100,000, has now travelled on to Sicily, and then he’s heading to Northern Italy. The window fitter said: “I can get on the property ladder, and if I have kids one day, it means I have that security behind me.” 

Before Joe moves out of his parents’ house, he says another holiday to Asia is now on the cards.  He said: “I’ve just got into travelling and seeing different places in the last few years and now I could even look at going to Thailand for three weeks or so. It’s surreal. I’ll soon be back to normality and back to work, but this money might change a lot of things.” 

Tracy and hubby Neil also have travel plans of their own but the couple won’t be retiring just yet. 

Tracy and Joe were among 10 winners on Greenhythe Road to win the lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize. Neighbours Kevin Walsh, Mervyn Payne, Jennifer Scott, Anne Swinglehurst and Julie Lomas each celebrated a £100,000 win.