You're joking! £148m Lottery winner

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14 August 2012

The winner of Britain's second biggest Lottery jackpot has said that he joked to his wife that he had not bought any tickets.

And when music shop owner Adrian Bayford tried to tell healthcare assistant Gillian that they had actually scooped £148.6 million, she told him to be quiet as she was trying to get their children to sleep.

Mr Bayford, 41, said he saw the news on TV that one person had won EuroMillions but his wife confessed that she hadn't had time to get a ticket.

"As a joke, I also said neither had I, when in fact I had five lines upstairs waiting to be checked. Gradually, the numbers seemed to match up with those on my ticket and I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.

"I rushed back and turned on the main light, at which point Gillian went ballistic. The kids really were awake by now. I was trying to tell her that we had won the lottery and she was telling me to keep the noise down."

The lucky couple, from Haverhill, Suffolk, who have two children, Aimee, six, and Cameron, four, scooped the 14-rollover jackpot in Friday's EuroMillions draw with the winning numbers 50, 21, 17, 48 and 11, and the Lucky Star numbers 09 and 10. The prize is just behind the £161 million landed by Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs in North Ayrshire, in July last year.

Mr Bayford, who co-owns a music shop in Haverhill, and Mrs Bayford, a children's ward healthcare assistant at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, called family members to share the good news, having given up on getting the children back to bed.

The couple, who have been married for eight years, spent the rest of the night on the internet deciding how to spend the money. They are deciding what to do next, although Mrs Bayford said she would be leaving her job in ward D2, where she has worked shifts for the past three years.

Mrs Bayford, 40, who is originally from Kirkcaldy, said: "Neither of us can quite comprehend just how much £148 million is. We have always worked and saved up for holidays, or things that we need. We have lived within our means and been comfortable but we have been like ships in the night to earn the income we needed. It will be fantastic to spend more time as a family now."

The couple were adamant that they would share the money with friends and family, with Mrs Bayford saying: "If you are selfish and keep it to yourself, yes, it is far too much. But if you are willing to share it around and give it to people and let them have the quality of life you are having as well, it is more enjoyable. Why can't a lot of people be happy off of somebody's two pounds?"

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