Leicestershire: Lotto winner sells car to best friend for £1

Deborah Burgess fell ill in August and did not discover the win until October

A hospital worker sold her car to her friend for just £1 after finding out she had won £1m in the Lotto draw.

Deborah Burgess, 56, said it was "wonderful" to be able to help her best friend Louise Smith by selling her Peugeot 2008 for £1.

Ms Burgess, of Leicestershire, was "a millionaire for months but did not know it" after falling ill with chronic anaemia in August.

After treatment in hospital, she went on holiday to recuperate.

When she finally checked her National Lottery tickets in October, she realised she had won.

The money will help Ms Burgess to convert a bedroom into a bathroom for her mum

She initially thought the message from the National Lottery may be a scam, until it was confirmed and her winnings were paid out.

Ms Burgess matched five numbers plus the bonus ball in the Lotto draw. Her winning numbers were chosen via a combination of birthdays, birth years and a random number.

She said: "I've bought a new car. It's not brand new, but a nice Hyundai.

"I wasn't going to sell my car but my friend wanted to buy it from me. She wanted to pay the proper price but because of the win I sold it to her for just a pound."

'Shock of my life'

Back in August, Ms Burgess bought a batch of Lotto tickets online via the National Lottery app, one of which was a winner on 19 August.

Due to her illness and subsequent holiday to Corfu, she did not check her emails for months.

Ms Burgess said: "I had finally got around to catching up on things after a tough few months and was checking my emails at home - there were so many after not going online for a while.

"I had the shock of my life when I did check my account."

As well as planning a trip to swim with dolphins in Hawaii with her family, Ms Burgess is also spending the money on converting a bedroom into a bathroom for her mother Patricia and having new garden fencing fitted after recent storms tore them down.