Bridgend Players Delight At £2 Million Win

There were shrieks of delight from four lucky Bridgend ladies, as the fantastic four scooped £200,000 each when their postcode, CF31 2PJ, was revealed as the full winning postcode in the March Postcode Millions. The party saw 279 residents in winning postcode sector CF31 2 share a £2 Million prize pot. Prizes ranged from £1,137 up to a terrific £200,000.

There were tears of joy for Jayne Austin, 46, when her cheque was revealed. Jayne, who had originally won a £3,412 sector prize, said she was a little scared at the thought of tearing her first cheque up. However, she was absolutely ecstatic with her new one, worth £200,000.

Jayne, who was there with her partner Mark, exclaimed, "Oh my goodness I think I'm going to have to marry Mark now!" Jayne got Mark to phone her Mum as soon as she had won. She thinks that more than just her family will know about her win now. "Mark phoned my mum straight away so the whole of South Wales will know that I've won now! I've two children, Angharad and Rhys-John, and three grandsons, so I'm sure she's phoned them all by now. I just can't wait to see them all and celebrate tonight."

Jayne luckily doesn’t have to worry about going into work on Monday as she's already booked two weeks off work. This will give her plenty of time to start looking for their new dream house. "We'll definitely be looking at buying a new house together and we've been engaged for a while now but haven't been able to afford a wedding, now we'll definitely be getting married and having a big party," said Jayne.

Next up to collect her cheque was Angela Heaven, 34. Angela signed up to play People's Postcode after one of her friends won in Port Talbot back in 2013. Angela couldn't believe it when she scooped her very own cheque for £200,000. Angela attended the celebration with her boyfriend of two years, Richard, a builder, who was just as stunned.

Angela, who has worked in car insurance for the past 13 years said, "This is so surreal; we both just can't believe it. We thought the most we had won was £500, so we'd been looking to buy some new garden furniture; I think we'll have to find something a little more exciting to spend the money on now."

Born and bred in Bridgend, Angela has no intention of leaving this lucky area now. "We'll definitely stay in Bridgend," said Angela. "We're going to find our very own 'forever home' and plan to start a family soon, so this couldn't have come at a better time."

Ayla Bridgman, 27, a first-year student of English, was at the cheque presentation on her own, as she had told her mum Sian that she should just go to the supermarket instead of coming along to the event. "This is just amazing. I'm going to help my mum by paying off the mortgage, and then I would love to go travelling to South America. This win makes all of this possible," said Ayla.

The final winner today was Alexis Frew, 50, a sales assistant at WHSmith. Alexis was celebrating her big win today with her husband Tony, 59. Alexis said, "I was absolutely shaking on stage when I saw my cheque; I can't wait to tell my two sons Alex and Tom that I've won."

Alexis and husband Tony, who has been a taxi driver in Bridgend for 30 years, recently paid for both their sons to attend university, so this has come at a perfect time for them. Tony, who has been to America six times, is keen to take his wife on her first ever trip to the USA. Now they have the money to make that trip a reality.

There was also a fifth lucky big winner today, but they have chosen to remain anonymous.

Sector winner Nicola Jones, 34, had already scooped £3,412 during the event in Bridgend before discovering she had also won a brand new BMW 1 Series. Nicola said, "It's amazing, I can't believe it. My partner encouraged me to sign up and I'm so glad I did."

This is the fifth time that the Postcode Millions has landed in Wales in two years, meaning that £10 Million in Postcode Million prizes has now been awarded to players in Wales. Just last month, players from Swansea scooped the £2 Million prize pot meaning that in first few months of 2015, over £4 Million has been awarded to Welsh winners. The other lucky areas were Newport and the town of Port Talbot, which scooped the Postcode Millions prize pot two years in a row.

People's Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt was the lucky lady handing out the cheques to the Bridgend players. Judie said, "It was only last month that we were in Swansea giving away £2 Million, so it's absolutely great to be back in Wales handing out even more cheques to players from Bridgend! It's been a fantastic day here today, and I've loved seeing all the reactions of the winners on stage. Congratulations to everyone!"