An astonished lotto winner has told how he was so thrilled after scooping a USD 50,000 payout he was too shocked to eat breakfast.

Night worker Gary Hill – from Lexington City, Kentucky State, USA – had stopped off at a service station to grab a meal and fill up his car on his way home.

But when he realised he had bought a winning scratch-off ticket, he was just too amazed to eat.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the Kentucky Lottery on Thursday, 2nd March, saying that Hill lost his appetite “after he bought a Kentucky Lottery Scratch-off ticket, winning USD 50,000 [GBP 41,700].”

Gary said after his 27th February win: “I took it to the clerk to check and was told it was for more than they could pay, and I needed to go to Louisville.

“I wasn’t able to eat breakfast after that.”

He added: “It’s not life-changing but it’s substantial.”

The lottery officials explained that while scratching the ticket off, Hill at first discovered that he had won USD 200 (GBP 167).

Hill said: “I scratched the first row and figured I’d won at least USD 5,000 [GBP 4,171].”

The lottery officials added: “As he scratched off more spots, he continued to uncover wins.

“He scratched off the rest of the ticket uncovering wins on all 35 spots.”

Hill said he went home for a nap before heading to the Lottery headquarters that afternoon.

He received USD 35,750 (GBP 29,817) after taxes.