Magic Moment In Merstham

The former dispatch manager said: "I’ve always fancied the West Country. Unfortunately, I lost my wife to cancer in 2005 and we always talked about moving down there but we couldn’t have done because of the work situation really."

He added: "I thought, oh well, that dream’s gone, but here we go again. The dream is still alive."

Robin won with two other neighbours in Merstham, Surrey, after RH1 3JE was announced as the winner of today's £250,000 prize.

Now he’s now looking at Cornwall or Devon as a potential base, moving away from his one-bedroom rented flat.

He said: "I do like it here. I’ve been here two and a half years now. It’s a nice community here; everything you need, everybody’s friendly."

The stunned writer admitted it would take some time to process his win. He said: "This is really happening? It’s going to take a bit of time to fully sink in, I think."

However, it’s not the only postcode to have recently had a big win in the area.

Last week, four neighbours in Chaldon - less than five miles away - shared the lottery’s £1 Million Millionaire Street prize when CR3 5PT was announced as the winner on Friday 21 November. Each winning ticket was also worth £250,000. 

After taking around 10 years to write and self-publish his first novel around 2012, Robin caught the writing bug and has continued to pursue his passion with his sixth book almost finished.

He said: "I’ve written five novels so far, there’s another one actually in progress, but five published on Amazon. They’re supernatural thrillers, paranormal thrillers, so sort of Stephen King, Dean Koontz type of thing."

He added: "There’s another one in the pipeline so hopefully later this year or maybe early next, that’ll be published as well."

Robin’s also planning to continue his other big passion - his music.

He said: "Back in the eighties, I played in a couple of rock bands. I was a bass guitarist and backing vocals. We did a lot of gigs around South London and Surrey, that kind of area."

He added: "These days I’m just a bedroom musician, you know, doing strumming and I use the technology that’s available out there to help with songwriting. It’s very enjoyable."

After a recent holiday in the Scottish Highlands, travelling on the Caledonian Sleeper, Robin now has his sights set on trips abroad and is eyeing up the Canadian Rockies and possibly even further.

He said: "I always fancied New Zealand but I don’t know if I can handle the flight to be honest."

But first, he plans to share the good news with close friends and his two sisters, Valerie and Karen.

The budding novelist originally signed up to play in 2024 to help support charities.

He said: "My view was, I’m doing quite well financially really, and I thought I’d like to give something back. It’s really for the good causes. I know that the Postcode Lottery donate a lot of money to good causes… a variety of good causes and that’s really what inspired me to join up."

Robin particularly enjoys knowing he’s supporting environmental and animal charities, which are close to his heart.

He added: "It tends to be the more environmental ones. Things like Greenpeace (Environmental Trust) and Friends of the Earth. The animal charities, but you know, I just like the diversity really."