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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
James McNeill

Paddy Power millionaire from Bootle quits job and buys a second hand Land Rover

A lorry driver from Bootle who became a millionaire overnight has revealed what he has done with his winnings a year on.

Geoff took home the top prize after his horse came first in the Imperial Cup at Sandown Racecourse as part of Paddy Power's Millionaire Chase.

Speaking to the ECHO after the big win Geoff said that he planned to start working part-time and treat his wife to a holiday.

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One year on, Geoff has left his job as a lorry driver and now works part-time for a utilities company, he said: "My wife’s gone down to three days a week. But we intend to keep working either on a short term or temporary basis for as long as we are able to."

Geoff has been on three holidays in the last year even staying in a lavish five-star hotel in Turkey.

He said: "This time we went a bit more luxurious to see how the other half live and to be honest, it wasn’t really us.

"But we’ve decided life’s too short to scrimp or save too much – so I’ve bought myself a Range Rover, not a new one I should say. My boy has just passed his driving test, so we’ve bought him a car."

Geoff isn’t planning on moving to a big house in the country anytime soon, he said: “We haven’t moved to a new house because we like the house, we’re in – we paid off the mortgage - but we’re settled here and at the moment it’s what we need.

Geoff, from Bootle, became a millionaire (Paddy Power)

“And what’s been really nice, given what’s happened to us as a family, with my son passing away [his son died aged 18 after battling cancer nine years ago], is that people say it couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple. Which is so nice to hear."

On his plans for the future, Geoff said: "Whether I last to 65 or 75 with a bit of money left, right now we’re enjoying what we can do. And the one thing the money has let us do is be secure and help people out that are close to you, and you care about."

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