Thurso man £5k richer after buying an egg in a Lybster shop
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Retired bus driver Sandy Barclay from Thurso is "eggstatic" after finding a £5000 winning ticket in a Cadbury's Creme Egg on a trip to a Lybster shop.
The confectionery giant has hidden 200 Gold Creme Eggs in shops around the UK with Sandy (66) discovering his winning ticket with the top prize of £5000 when he unwrapped his favourite sweet on the way back to Thurso.
"I opened it on the Causewaymire road and thought it was a trick of the light at first with the sun shining on it through the car window," Sandy recalled.
He said he had no idea there was a competition being run by Cadbury – which is celebrating 50 years of Creme Egg production – until he found the ticket under the foil and saw the golden egg.
It's the fifth year in a row the company has run this kind of competition, but this time the winning milk chocolate shells are covered in edible gold dust.
"I got a real shock when I saw the ticket and thought I had just won a share of the £5000 at first. But then I phoned up in the morning and they confirmed it was the full amount. It's the best surprise I've ever had in my life."
Sandy says that though he has not received the money yet Cadbury has promised him the cheque will be sent soon.
Donald Henderson who runs D&S Henderson's convenience store in Lybster with his wife Sonya said: "There are 200 million Creme Eggs made in Britain this year and there are only 17 golden eggs for the whole of the UK with the top prize of £5000."
Donald said that he was delighted his shop was one of the few places to produce a top prize-winning egg. "It's only convenience stores and corner shops that the golden eggs are available in. None of the big supermarkets have them," he added.
Sandy says he has not had much luck winning anything before beyond the "odd twenty pounds or so". He doesn't know what he'll put the money towards yet.
"It'll be a nice nest egg for my retirement," he joked.
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