Friends split €10m lottery jackpot

TWO friends have split a €10 million Super Loto jackpot win, even although only one had taken part.

Jean-Pierre spotted that he was the sole winner and, without telling his friend Jean-Paul about the win, asked him to split the €10 cost of the ticket. When Jean-Paul paid up, he was told they had won.

The men, from Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, had been friends for 22 years and had played the big Loto games together for three years after one family fell on hard times. They had helped each other pull through.

They spent and lost €10 on tickets for the Christmas Super Loto and Jean-Pierre reused the numbers for the New Year Loto. When the 60-year-old discovered he had won, however, he realised Jean-Paul had not played when he saw he was the sole winner.

Jean-Pierre and Jean-Paul presented the winning ticket at their local tabac Diplomate, in the Pont-de-Crau area of Arles.

The men, who did not want their full names revealed, picked up cheques for €5m each at a presentation in Marseille.

Photo: monregard - Fotolia.com