Gardener scoops £1m lottery win

Fortune blossomed for Lee Orchard, 30, when he bought the lucky card on a whim - using a £5 note from a previous scratchcard win.

The married father-of-two, from St Austell, Cornwall, said: “I was on my way to work and I stopped in the Co-Op.

“I don’t often buy scratchcards, but I had a £5 note in my pocket which I’d won a couple of days previously.

“I spotted another scratchcard with a top prize of £1 million and decided to give it a go.

“When I got back in the car and scratched the card, I couldn’t believe my eyes when it came up as a £1 million win.

“I went back into the shop to ask them to check it for me, and I was told to contact Camelot as the prize was too big to pay out.

“That’s when it really started to sink in.

“As soon as it was confirmed I rang my wife Laura to tell her.

“She didn’t believe me for ages, but she was overjoyed when I finally convinced her.”

Mr Orchard, who works at his parents’ garden centre, Black Acre Nurseries in St Columb Major, plans to buy a house for his family as they currently rent their home.

“Buying a house is top of the shopping list,” he said.

“We’ve got two children, a boy and a girl, and we didn’t really want them to have to share a room when they got older.

“We’re definitely going to buy a bigger family home now, probably somewhere rural and quiet.

“I grew up near Indian Queens so I’d quite like to find somewhere near there.

“We both want to keep working as we enjoy our jobs, but this win will take the pressure off.

“Laura might go part-time to spend a bit more time with the children while they’re young, but being able to move house is a big deal for us.

“My car is an old banger and on its last legs so it’ll be great to upgrade to a nice family car and not worry about repair bills.

“Other than that, I’d like to take the kids to Disneyland when they’re a bit older - it’s somewhere I always wanted to go when I was a child so it would be great to do it with them.”

Mr Orchard and his wife, a spa beautician, plan on investing the rest of their win for their children - aged three and eight months, as well as helping out their respective families, who all live locally.

The winning £1 Million Gold National Lottery Scratchcard was bought at the Co-Op in Roche on March 7.

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