Taranaki seller of $22.3m Lotto Powerball ticket excited she's 'given someone their hopes and dreams'

The $22.3 million Lotto Powerball ticket was sold at the Inglewood Book Centre in Taranaki. Photo / Google

The excited Taranaki shopkeepers who sold the Lotto Powerball ticket that won $22.3 million hope the lucky person is a local.

"It would be nice for it to be a local," said Lorraine Reeve, of the Inglewood Book Centre. "At the moment there's a lot of tourists and visitors coming through."

Reeve said she and her husband had sold a ticket that won $1m soon after taking over the business around a decade ago, but never anything as big as last night's $22,333,333 - a $22m Powerball prize plus $333,333 first division win.

"This is amazing. We were so excited that we felt - I mean we had only just sold the ticket, so imagine being the winner."

"[It] took my breath away. It was really exciting; very, very exciting. Let's just say we didn't sleep much last night."

Reeve said customers had been talking about the win all morning, "and it's surprised a few people".

"They have come in checking their tickets and they didn't actually know we'd sold the winning one, so that's even quite exciting too."

She said the winner hadn't brought in the winning ticket yet, but she hoped they would bring it to her shop.

Asked if she would put up a poster proclaiming "winning ticket sold here, $22 million", Reeve said: "I've got the big winner sold here poster - that's a start."

She said she bought Lotto tickets but not the Powerball option, although her husband did buy Powerball last night.

"[You] can't be envious can you - you've given someone their hopes and dreams."

Lotto NZ said the $22.3 million ticket had not been presented yet. The buyer should write their name on the back of the ticket and check it immediately at any Lotto outlet, online at MyLotto.co.nz or through the Lotto NZ ticket-checker app.

Inglewood Community Board chairwoman Karen Moratti said, "Congratulations to David and Lorraine [Reeve] at the Inglewood Book Centre. It's wonderful that they had a big win there. They have had some wins before.

"Obviously we would love it to be that it's going to a local and I wish them all the very best with their big win.

"They might just go straight to Auckland, like some people do - try and keep it a little bit quiet, but in a small town that might not be so easy."