Couple hit jackpot after 39 years

A LUCKY couple from the Hautes-Pyrénées have scooped €14million on the Loto, having almost always used the same numbers for 39 years.

The couple said they have only played two sets of numbers since the current French national lottery, Loto, opened in 1976 – having changed them once, 10 years ago “because we weren’t winning anything”.

They said they will use the money to help their children and grandchildren, buy their dream house by the sea and organise a big family reunion, as well as ‘enjoying some of the simple things in life’.

The jackpot payout was the ninth-equal largest in the history of the French Loto, with the biggest having been €24 million, in 2011 in Sarcelles.