Lotto winners claim major prizes from tickets sold in Whanganui store

The winners of two major Lotto prizes sold at Vivek Bangia's Castlecliff Four Square have now claimed their tickets.

The holder of a winning $1 million Lotto ticket sold in Whanganui has claimed their prize.

The ticket sold at Castlecliff Four Square won Lotto Division 1 on May 25. In the same draw, a Strike Four ticket - also sold at Castlecliff Four Square - had the first four numbers drawn in the correct order, winning $600,000.

“Our $1 million winner who purchased their ticket in Whanganui recently just claimed their prize yesterday [Tuesday] – more than a week after they won,” a Lotto spokeswoman said.

“The winner would like to remain anonymous but has shared that they are excited about their win and are going to take some time to absorb the win.”

The person who won $600,000 on Strike has also claimed their ticket.

The spokeswoman said the winners were two different people.

Castlecliff Four Square owner Vivek Bangia said it was the biggest Lotto win he had seen in his 15 years of owning the store.

“Having both of them in one draw was a very rare thing - that doesn’t seem to happen at a lot of places.”

The Lotto spokeswoman confirmed it was a rare event.

“Interestingly, this is only the second time in Lotto NZ history that a store has sold both the First Division Lotto and Strike tickets for the same draw,” she said.

“The first time was on January 28, 2017, when Harris Road Superette & Lotto in Auckland sold a Strike Four ticket that won $115,000, and a Lotto First Division ticket that won $200,000.”