The full Monte! Dream car win... for just £2.99

A 54-YEAR-OLD motoring enthusiast has won the six-figure car of his dreams - for the price of a £2.99 competition ticket.

- SHAURYA SHAURYA

Jason John, from Tonteg, near Pontypridd, went into the draw for a vintage 550HP Jewel Violet Escort Cosworth Monte - worth a six-figure sum - at son Jordan's urging.

But he initially had no idea of his good fortune after the draw on May 11.

"I didn't realise I'd won to be honest," said Jason, a painter and decorator.

"My boy asked me in the night if we could put a ticket on so I basically put one ticket on.

"I think it was £2.99 at about 8.20pm in the night-time.

"I usually watch the live draw but I went to bed early - I was tired.

"The draw doesn’t usually start till about 10pm so by the time they do the main draws it’s about 10.20pm so I was sleeping by then."

But the next day Jason woke up to a slew of missed calls, emails, and WhatsApp messages asking him to call Dream Car Giveaways.

At this point he did not even know what prize he had actually won as he had entered another jackpot competition as well.

Once he found out he had indeed won the Cosworth Monte, Jason had a choice to make - he could either take the car home or pocket £70,000 tax-free cash.

But for Jason, who had grown up with these cars around him, the choice was very simple.