East Sussex man wins Mercedes on his way to Mexico

Civil engineer Raymond Nathan won the silver Mercedes AMG GT and £20,000 in cash by entering a car competition at Gatwick Airport.

Best of the Best, the company which organises the competition, said they found it hard to track down Mr Nathan as he was on a three-week break in Mexico and doesn’t use social media.

“I never expected to get such great news while away,” said 62-year-old Mr Nathan, who has three children and five grandchildren.

“I just like to have a try when I am at the airport. I really didn’t know what to believe when we took the call.”

Mr Nathan entered the airport draw for the £98,745 Mercedes on Saturday, September 23, as he left for the holiday with his wife Susan.

Christian Williams from Best of the Best, who eventually gave Mr Nathan the good news, said: “Sometimes it can really go down to the wire getting hold of our winners but we never give up.”

Mr Williams said after several missed calls he finally contacted Mr Nathan at 4am Mexican time, 18 hours after his first attempt.

Mr Nathan said he opened a bottle of champagne at the hotel to celebrate in spite of the early hour.

The father and grandfather said he was now hoping to use the money to take his wife on a holiday to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary next July.

A Best of the Best spokesperson said: “It’s a fantastic win for Raymond and we sincerely hope he gets to mark his wedding anniversary with a truly memorable trip.”