A businessman from East Devon has scooped the lion’s share of a £3million Postcode Millions prize pot.

George Sloan, 58, a nightclub and pub owner, originally from Belfast living in East Devon, joined a further 145 winners at a celebration in Sidmouth on Saturday, where he scooped his cheque for £234,171.

Players from East Devon found out last week that their postcode EX10 0 was the winning postcode sector in People’s Postcode Lottery’s February Postcode Millions.

It wasn’t until today that they found out that the full winning postcode was EX10 0DA, making George the big winner.

The event saw 146 residents in the winning postcode sector share a £3million prize pot, with prizes ranging from £17,178 to £234,171.

George attended the celebration with his wife, of 31 years, Anita.

He said: “I can’t believe this – I’m not normally a lucky person but this has changed all that.”

George hasn’t got a lot of time to think about his win as he’s heading straight back to work tonight, adding: “I own some pubs and clubs across East Devon and because I’m the boss I’ve got to be there, although I don’t think I’ll be able to concentrate too much this evening.”

George and Anita, a retired police officer, have two sons, Eddie, who lives in London, and Lewis, who lives in Oman.

“Eddie has just bought a flat in London so we’ll help him with that and we’ll definitely treat Lewis as well,” said Anita.

As well as treating their two sons, the couple are planning to head off to Mexico on holiday.

George said: “When I won the cheque for £17,178 I was so delighted, I felt like the luckiest man alive – but when my first cheque was ripped up and I was given my new, even bigger one, I was left absolutely speechless.

“I think Anita might book our flights to Mexico tonight when I’m at work!”

“I signed up to play after one of the girls at work told me she’d won a couple of small prizes.

“I’ve only been playing for a month or two and I’ve won this!”

People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt was delighted to be on hand today to meet all the excited winners and present them with their cheques.

She said: “What a fantastic day it’s been in East Devon!

“It’s the best part of my job getting to hand over the cheques and I absolutely loved hearing what everyone plans to do with their winnings.

“Congratulations to all our winners!”

It’s not just players who win by playing People’s Postcode Lottery – more than £175.5million has been awarded to charities and good causes.

The winners’ celebration saw a number of supported charities in attendance including Riding for the Disabled Association, Girlguiding and Missing People.

Ross Miller, the director of fundraising at Missing People, attended the event and was keen to thank players for their support.

He said: “Players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised more than £4million for Missing People and are allowing us to continue to help bring missing children, young people and adults to safety every day.

“Thank you so much for your continual support, your funding really makes such a difference.”