Londonderry couple scoop second lottery win

Ciaran and Catherine Kidd hit the jackpot almost two years to the day since their previous lottery win

A County Londonderry couple has struck lucky on the lottery - twice.

Catherine and Ciaran Kidd from Draperstown scooped £1m on the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker - two years after winning £20,000.

Mum-of-four Catherine said they are now looking forward to an "extra special" family Christmas.

In 2015, the couple won £20,000 in the Lotto Millionaire Raffle. Mrs Kidd, originally from Rochdale, said the couple have "no big plans" .

"But already there's a tremendous sense of freedom, a lifting of pressure and the wonderful feeling that we'll be able to spend more time together as a family," she said.

The latest win was secured by a ticket the couple had bought online.

'Winner's notification'

She said initially the couple thought they had won nothing more than a free lottery ticket when she received a winner's notification email from the National Lottery.

"I assumed that we'd won a free lucky dip as that is the most regular outcome, but I wasn't able to check on my computer at work so I phoned Ciaran and asked him to check at home - as I couldn't settle with the suspense until I found out.

Ciaran said they are still trying to come to terms with their win.

He said: "We're glad to finally get it out in the open because we've been dying to tell people since we won and it's been so hard to keep it a secret.

"We're very normal down-to-earth people who have been lucky to experience something that is far from normal - and we feel very privileged to be in this position.

"Nobody ever thinks this will happen to them but we are living proof that it really can happen to anyone."