A MAN described how he won two cars worth an approximate combined total of £80,000 within two days.
Shaun Elliot, 52, is a machine operator from Acomb and entered online car raffle competitions 7 Days Performance and Storm Competitions earlier this month.
READ MORE: 'We can't afford to open the doors' - Soft play and ice cream parlour closes
He bought six tickets at 79 pence each on 7 Days Performance. One of these tickets won Shaun a high-performance Mercedes AMG CLA.
He was in the pub at the time when he got the call to say he had won, and thought it was a prank.
"I didn't believe it myself, it wasn't till I checked the website I realised I actually had won.
"Two days later, while explaining to a couple of friends how you go about entering, I got a notification to say that another car had just come up on Storm Competitions, and there was only two hours to the draw.
"In showing them what to do I bought one ticket for that at £18 and won that car as well," Shaun said.
"I went to bed not even thinking about it, it wasn't till I woke up in the morning to go to work and checked my phone, I had a couple of missed calls from Storm Competitions."
The company then dropped the car, an Audi Q7, at his home later that week.
He said he is selling the Mercedes, as 'it's not really an everyday driving car'.
"There will be scam competitions out there but these two have been going for a while," he said. "They are highly respected, and no matter how many tickets they sell, the car always goes."
Shaun said he knows a lot of other people who have won cars, but no one that has won two cars in two days.
"I entered because they're better odds than the lottery if you look at it. I don't know anybody who's ever won the lottery. But I know a few people who've won these car competitions, it's just a fiver or a tenner and someone has to win it, so why not you," he said.
He added his family didn't believe he had won. "Both my sons and my wife were just blown away by it.
"Nobody believed me when I won the first one, but no one definitely believed me when I won the second.
"It was just all surreal. It's freakish to win two, to win one was good enough, but to win two was unbelievable," he said.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here