Father-of-two Russ Standish's joy was nearly shortlived when he couldn't find his winning ticket. PHOTO: Ian Cooper

The winner of a British newspaper's lotto competition was devasted when he couldn't find his ticket.

Russ Standish, 48, told the ECHO he was at work at garage Sarkbar, in Speke , when he entered the competition using his Lotto ticket and vouchers his mom collected from the newspaper.

But when he received a phone call the following day from the ECHO and had to track down his ticket, he struggled to find it.

The service manager said: “I couldn’t find the ticket anywhere. But I knew I’d had it in my office.

“I turned the place upside down and I couldn’t find it."

Russell Standish won £30,000 in a Echo newspaper and Lotto competition. PHOTO: Ian Cooper

“The binmen had been the day before and emptied all the bins, but they’d left one black binbag.

“I got the bag and threw it out over the floor and the ticket just came floating out.”

Somewhere in bags like these was a lotto ticket worth US$46,000!

He said: “The main thing is that I’ll be able to treat my family and clear my debts. I can’t wait to be debt-free for Christmas. It’s fantastic."

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet. You always think it’s the kind of thing that’s not going to happen to you.”

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