Accountant wins £61m on the Lottery and says he will carry on working... until end of tax year!
A COUPLE who scooped £61.7million on the lottery thought they had won just £2.60 – and celebrated with a bacon sandwich while in Portugal for their 30th wedding anniversary.
But when Richard and Debbie Nuttall got through to the National Lottery while on a drive later that afternoon, the truth finally dawned on them.
A support assistant for a civil engineering firm, Mrs Nuttall has already resigned but her husband, a self-employed accountant, plans to work on – and see out the tax year to be fair to his clients.
He explained: ‘I do payrolls for people and think it’s a natural time to finish. If clients are struggling after that, I’ve said I’ll help them but I’m not planning on working in six months’ time.’
The couple, both 54, explained how they had woken on holiday to find an email from National Lottery alerting them to check their account.
After getting paltry winnings from a lottery draw in November, they assumed the win would against be £2.60.
But when a second email urged them to get in touch, Mr Nuttall contacted one of their daughters at home and asked her to check their account.
He was met by her screaming: ‘Oh, my God.’
The pair, from Colne in Lancashire, tried calling the lottery number but had problems getting a connection so went for another drive.
Mr Nuttall said: ‘My wife was waving her phone to get a better signal. When we finally got one, the lady checked with her manager and came back on the line to say – and I’ll never forget
these words – “So, I need to get this right. I can confirm you are the winners of the £61,708,231 Euromillions jackpot prize”.’
Mr Nuttall added: ‘The car must have been rocking. It was the Del Boy and Rodney scene when they finally become millionaires outside Sotheby’s.’
The couple have since spent £1,200 on bedding, a ‘posh’ hairdryer and some golf clubs as well as a £70,000 BMW X5. Mrs Nuttall said: ‘We’re still in the dazed period. It’s like retirement 12 years early.’
The pair, who have three daughters and two granddaughters, yesterday toasted their winnings with a celebration at the 15th century Mitton Hall Hotel, near Whalley, Lancashire. Their longer- term plans involve a new house and a holiday home in Portugal.
Mr Nuttall intends to play more golf and even has a ‘golf swing room’ on his wish-list while his wife hankers after a bigger garden, a greenhouse, a swimming pool and extra land for Monty, their five-year- old King Charles cavalier spaniel.
The lucky dip was one of two winning tickets for the £123million jackpot on January 30.
The win makes them the 29th richest UK lottery winners and the 39th UK winners to bank a prize of £50million-plus.
The couple plan to work on a charity in memory of Mrs Nuttall’s nephew Ben King, who died of a rare brain and kidney condition aged 27. BK’s Heroes has so far raised £250,000 for research into tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome.
‘Like retirement 12 years early’