A WIDOWER who scooped a lottery prize on his 81st birthday believes his late wife has been looking out for him.
John Biddlecombe, of Walton Crescent, Ashbourne lost his beloved wife, Alice, when she suffered a stroke last month, aged 85, and he is convinced she is behind the win.
The former chairman of Ashbourne Ex-Servicemen's Club, who spends £30 each week on the lottery, picked up his £20,000 cheque from Ashbourne's Co-operative supermarket after finding out he had won the Lotto Raffle prize with eight matching numbers.
He said: "I can't believe it. I'm absolutely thrilled.
"With my wife passing away recently and with it being my birthday I thought she must be doing something up there. It's just too coincidental."
Mr Biddlecombe said he will spend some of the win visiting a friend in Brighton and will use it to help pay for a solar panel installation he ordered, as well as helping his children and family."
