A Noosa man who received a winning $260,000 Instant Scratch-Its ticket for his birthday, has declared he’s suddenly excited about getting older.

The top prize winning $5 Live the Life Instant Scratch-Its ticket was purchased at Noosa Junction News, Shop 26, Noosa Fair Shopping Centre, 3 Lanyana Way, Noosa Heads.

The Queenslander will enjoy the top prize for many years to come as it is an annuity prize paid in instalments of $1,000 a week for five years.

“I received this as a gift from my family for my birthday,” he said when speaking with us.

“I actually scratched it on my birthday on the weekend. I did it first thing in the morning.

“I didn’t really know what I’d won at first. I thought it was too good to be true.

“I showed a few friends and some family, and they weren’t sure about it either. They thought it might be a novelty ticket or we’d just confused ourselves thinking we’d won something good.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up for nothing. But then I went into The Lott head office, and they confirmed the news for me.

“I was blown away! It’s made turning another year older a hell of a lot easier.

“It was a very pleasant surprise. I’m not sure how my family is going to top this birthday next year! 

“We’re still contemplating what to do with the money. We’re thinking we might use it to enjoy our retirement and travel around Australia.

“We celebrated my birthday and this win on the weekend, so it was double celebrations.”

Noosa Junction News team member Sadie Edwards said the entire team was celebrating the major prize win.

“What a fantastic birthday surprise,” Sadie said.

“That’s amazing! We’d love to send our congratulations to our winner. We’re over the moon for them. 

“It’s always exciting when someone wins a big prize, so we’re thrilled!

“Hopefully this is the start of a winning streak. Good luck to all our customers. We hope they have a big win next!”