LANCASHIRE farmer Bob Atkinson and his wife Margaret have won £30,000 in the People’s Postcode Lottery – and plan to use the money to buy fertiliser for their 100 acres of land.

77-year-old Mr Atkinson landed the cash when the BB12 8TZ postcode was announced as a lottery winner in last Sunday's draw.

In the farming business all his life, Bob was brought up on the farm next door before moving to his farm with Margaret over fifty years ago.

He said: "We need some fertiliser for spring and that's gone up to nearly £1000 a tonne. So that's one of the first things we'll need to buy.”

Margaret added: “I know what he’ll do. He’ll buy some sheep.”

Read more: Fertiliser supply dries up

Bob went on to speak about the concerns around growing enough grass for their livestock this year: “We were thinking we might have to manage without the fertiliser. It would have been a bit of a worry whether we could get enough grass without it. But with this bit of help, we’ll probably be able to buy some.

“The area of grass we cut is around 100 acres. We need it to keep these animals going. We have about 50 cattle, 150 sheep at the moment and a number of horses on livery. That’s our life, that’s what we do.”

People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt presented Bob with his cheque and shared her congratulations, she said: “I’m delighted for Bob and Margaret today. It was amazing to get a glimpse of the life they lead on the farm. I hope they enjoy spending the win and treat themselves to something special on top of their fertiliser!”