Luton student wins prize of a lifetime - and plans to use it to buy his parents a house and car

Luton student Vinod Kumar Emmadi still can’t believe his luck.

The 27-year-old, whose mother sold all her gold to fund his studies in the UK, has won a top-of-the-range Mercedes worth £180,000 and £20,000 in cash in an online competition.

But Vinod, who lives in Warren Crescent and is reading analytics at Hatfield, intends to take the cash instead of the vehicle so he can buy his parents a big house and a car – and replace his mother’s jewellery.

When competitions company BOTB’s representative Christian Williams turned up to tell him he was the Dream Car Competition winner, Vinod couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"I didn’t expect it,” he said, before asking Christian: “Are you serious? My heart is going so fast!”

Christian was tickled by Vinod’s shock reaction and recalled: “I don’t think we’ve ever had a winner kiss the car before - I could see how excited he was. Huge congratulations to him.”

Vinod’s £5 ticket has brought him more wealth than he could have dreamed of.

"I am going to pay for my parents to come to my graduation next year,” said the young man from South India who has worked as a delivery driver and a kitchen porter to help fund his education.

"I’m from a very poor family,” he added. “My parents live in a very old house. I want to buy them something big so they can have a peaceful happy life.

"I’ll also send some money home to my family who have always supported me.”