Lancashire couple win £61m EuroMillions jackpot

Debbie and Richard Nuttall from Colne are celebrating their EuroMillions jackpot win

A couple who won a £61m share of a EuroMillions jackpot have said at first they mistakenly thought they had only won £2.60.

Richard and Debbie Nuttall from Colne, Lancashire, scooped £61,708,231 of the £123m prize in the draw on 30 January.

The pair, who are both 54, were on holiday in Fuerteventura celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, when they found out.

Mr Nuttall said they had been in an "absolute daze" since.

He told BBC North West it was "surreal" scooping the whopping prize as "it is a humongous amount of money".

Mr Nuttall explained how he had noticed an email from the National Lottery stating there was "exciting news about your ticket".

"I checked my National Lottery account and saw the balance had gone up and we'd won £2.60. Fair enough," he said.

He said when he told his wife she replied: "We'll go and have a bacon butty with that."

They went for breakfast and out for the day, driving around the island.

"We enjoyed the sea views, blue skies and windsurfers before heading back."

'Totally stunned'

Mr Nuttall said later in the afternoon he spotted another email saying to check their account.

"I thought it was odd and there must be a glitch in the system to get a duplicate email but I logged in again to my National Lottery account to check," he said.

"We were totally stunned, it said we had won over £61m.

"My first thought was it must be a scam or there was some mix up."

The couple say they are "going to have some fun" with their new-found riches

After the couple finally managed to get a phone signal and confirm their win with the National Lottery, the full realisation began to sink in.

Mr Nuttall, who is an accountant, said: "By this time me and Debs are going mental... jumping up and down in our car seats, punching the air, thumping the dashboard... the car must have been rocking."

He said they were still trying to get their heads around the huge win, adding: "We've always worked and now we have got the opportunity to do whatever we want."

He said they were "going to have some fun" and he and a friend were "going to do all the best golf courses".

Kidney disease research

The couple said they were looking forward to more holidays in the sun.

Mrs Nuttall, an office administrator, added: "There's a place in Barbados I have always wanted to go to so that is on the list."

She has only bought "new bedding and an expensive hairdryer" so far, while her husband said he had purchased golf clubs and a golf bag.

The couple said they would share the money with friends and family and support a charity close to their hearts, BK's Heroes.

It was founded by Mrs Nuttall's cousin Ben King who was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune condition, which caused his kidneys to fail.

"He died when he was 27 but he wanted to raise £10,000 through his charity. His mum and dad have kept it going and today it is nearly a quarter of a million pound," she said.

The charity raises awareness and funds research into brain cancer and kidney disease.

Mr Nuttall said they were ambassadors for the charity, adding: "We will help wherever we can."

He said the jackpot win would not change him or his wife.

"We will have nicer things and do nicer things but we will still be the same people and have our friends and family around us," he added.

The other EuroMillions winning ticket, which won the rest of the jackpot, was bought in Spain.

Andy Carter, from the National Lottery said the win was "absolutely incredible news".

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