A woman who drove around for months oblivious to a winning lottery ticket worth USD 653,599 lying on the passenger seat beside her has said she has used the cash to pay off her house and go to Dubai.

Tina Edwards told officials at the North Carolina Education Lottery that she has been “in complete shock” since finding out that she had won USD 653,599 (GBP 582,062).

Newsflash obtained a statement from the North Carolina Education Lottery on Thursday, 3rd November, saying: “Since September, Tina Edwards drove around Greensboro not knowing that a Cash 5 ticket worth more than half a million dollars sat beside her.”

Edwards said: “I didn’t know I won. I was riding around with it for two months with no idea I had a winning ticket.”

Lottery officials said: “Edwards, a customer service manager, stopped at the Bestway on Walker Avenue in Greensboro and bought a few lottery tickets while on the way to dinner with a co-worker.

“On Tuesday—over a month later — Edwards and the same co-worker visited a different gas station and decided to check the old tickets.”

Edward said: “We were in the store and she said, ’Oh! You won something.”

She added: “I’ve been in complete shock for the last two days.”

The North Carolina Education Lottery said: “Edwards matched all five white balls in the 28th September drawing to win the jackpot. She arrived at lottery headquarters Thursday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home USD 464,121 [GBP 413,552].

“Edwards said she can now cross two things off her bucket list: paying off her house and a family trip to Dubai.”