A salon owner received the shock of a lifetime when National Grid mistakenly offered him an eye-watering £12.4 MILLION in compensation for a power cut at his business. James Parker, 54, who jointly runs the Asembo hairdressing establishment in Stamford, Lincolnshire, was astonished to discover the energy giant had stated in writing two weeks prior that he was due such an enormous sum—the princely total of £12,423,397.

Unaware that he was even eligible for compensation, particularly not into the millions, James couldn't help but fantasise about the opulent life he could lead until National Grid identified their blunder, replaced the windfall with a more modest cheque of £95 and issued an apology for what they termed an 'administrative error'.

Since taking charge of the salon with his spouse Natasha, 44, back in 2013, James recounted his disbelief: "I struggled to read the number because it was so big - I had to add in spaces." He humorously highlighted the clarity issue, saying: "It really was a having to put your glasses on moment as there weren't any commas or decimal points, it was hard to see how much was actually there."

While reflecting on the letter's details, he continued: "They said on the letter that the problem wasn't rectified in 12 hours - but I don't think we were open that day anyway."

His sense of disbelief was palpable as he quipped: "I definitely didn't realise we were entitled to £12.4 million." James playfully speculated that the outlandish figure stemmed from confusion at National Grid, perhaps mixing up his salon with Heathrow Airport—which had recently endured its own power issues following a fire at a nearby electrical substation.

Before reality set in, James admitted to concocting grand plans for the mammoth payment while eagerly anticipating what would have been a game-changing financial boost. Unfortunately for him, dreams of a lavish millionaire life were crushed when he received a mere £95 cheque on his doormat last Thursday (27/3), shattering the illusion of instant riches.

He remarked: "I am grateful for the final cheque and accept it as an apology for the power cut - although I would have been quicker to accept the apology if it was a cheque for £12.4 million.

"I am fairly forgiving!" When probed about his hypothetical plans had the £12.4 million landed in his bank, James humorously suggested an immediate departure from the country while keeping the windfall under wraps. He jokingly considered depositing the money via an ATM to keep bank employees none the wiser about the sudden fortune.

Sharing his amusement further, he said: "With the original amount I would have whisked the family off on an around the world trip but with the revised amount I should just be able to manage a trip around the mid-lent fair for them." He whimsically mused about the short-lived financial benefits saying: "I was thinking I could bank it and see what interest I could get on £12.4 million."

Pondering the fleeting possibility of banking the erroneous amount, he added: "If I could clear it there would be a bit of interest there for a couple of days. It'll be more than the £95 they gave me in the end. "Most of them are roughly £1,500 a day, something like that. It would be a lot anyway."

Reflecting on the practicalities of cashing such a cheque, he observed: "If I presented it to the local bank at the till, they would've said that wasn't right. "But if I did it at the machine they would just process it without any human interaction."

Conceding to fantasies of keeping the fortune, he concluded: "If I could have kept it I would have probably disappeared very quickly to get away." A spokesperson for National Grid Electricity Distribution offered an apology to James for the oversight in administration, assuring that no erroneous cheques had been issued.

The representative further stated: "We have since sent out new letters advising of the correct payment details and we will be reviewing our processes to prevent this situation reoccurring."