Two lottery winners in the same street

Swan Crescent in Gorebridge has become the latest lottery hotspot after one resident won 1.1 million and another won 80,000 just a week later.

Lottery chiefs today said it was "highly unusual" to have two big winners in the same street.

And bookmakers said the odds against two big wins in the same street were "absolutely massive".

Joan Sneddon, 55, scooped the million pound-plus jackpot prize in the National Lottery two weeks ago.

A week later, Frances and Christopher Smith, who live just yards away at the other end of the street, scooped 80,000 with five balls. But Mrs Sneddon’s win is believed to have sparked a row with the mother-of-four’s partner David Scott, 67, following a reconciliation with her husband.

The father-of-two had been planning a new life with Mrs Sneddon after she scooped the jackpot in the April 3 draw with a lucky dip ticket.

Mr Scott, a retired printer, who had been living with Mrs Sneddon for more than a year, is said to be devastated by the split. He last saw Mrs Sneddon just before she left his house to pick up the lottery cheque. She never returned and is believed to have moved back in with her husband.

A member of the Sneddon family said: "It’s great that they’ve won this money. I don’t know what they’re going to do with it. Joan has gone to Spain with her sister, while the rest of the family wait here. They’re still getting to grips with what has happened."

Now other residents in Swan Crescent are hoping they will be next to share in the street’s good luck. Neighbour Sheila McCormick said: "Everybody’s talking about it because it’s so unusual to have two big winners in the same street. People are maybe putting an extra few lines on the lottery just to see if they might be next."

Another neighbour said: "Swan Crescent seems to be on a lucky streak at the moment. Hopefully, the big lottery finger will be pointing here again soon."

A neighbour of the Smith family said that they, too, were still coming to terms with the win. She said: "They’re a great family and we’re all delighted for them . And everybody is amazed we’ve had two big lottery wins in the street in such a short space of time. "

A National Lottery spokeswoman said they could make no comment on winners in the Midlothian street. But she added: "We’ve had big wins in the same store in the same week - in Stockport in July 2000. But it is highly unusual to have two big winners in the same street. I can’t recall it happening before."

Gambling experts said the chances of having two big winners in the same street within two weeks were almost impossible to calculate. Henry Spurway, of Larkspur bookmakers in the Grassmarket, said: " This must be the luckiest street in Scotland. The chances of winning the lottery jackpot are 14 million to one. Having another big winner the following week would be a staggering coincidence.

"As a bookie, I would offer odds against that of something in the region of 28,000,000 to one, but the mathematical odds are much higher."

Other towns have been identified as lottery hotspots in the past. In an area around Bonnybridge, near Falkirk, three people won jackpots within a year of its launch in 1995.

Gateshead and Grimsby were also dubbed lottery hotspots after residents scooped a higher than average number of jackpot wins.