It shouldn’t have been there until the end of December but it turned up on Wednesday last week and threw staff into a spin. It was a terminal for the National Lottery and it arrived unexpectedly at Piccadilly Road Post Office. Postmistress Mary Card and assistant Michelle Jolly had to sprint to the National Lottery’s area office in Liverpool to be taught how to use the equipment. On Saturday with just about 12 hours to go before terminals closed at the end of the first week. Piccadilly Road PO went live linking up with the lottery computers in London. But even that one day of selling tickets brought about 20 winners. “When we opened at 7 am on Sunday morning our first customer was a £10 winner”, said Mrs. Card. “Being a post office we can pay out prizes of up to £10,000 and the National Lottery cheque book is there waiting for the first big winner to call in. Since our battle against being closed down the Post Office seems to be filling us up with high tech equipment,” said Mrs Card, “we have the lottery terminal and very soon we will have equipment which will allow us to take the Quantum gas payment cards”. All this modern technology in a post office which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year. Marylin Shatwell, left, tried her luck in the lottery as Michelle Jolly feeds the terminal at Piccadilly Rd. Post Office.