£1m prize for Cleveland couples

Two couples from Cleveland are celebrating after they won one million pounds on the EuroMillions.

Full Report: Million pound prize for Cleveland couples

A sensible gambler will tell you the secret to success is knowing to quit when you're ahead.

However, when two couples from Teesside chose to ignore that advice, it won them a million pounds.

Rather than pocketing forty quid that they had won on a scratchcard, the couples used it to buy a winning Euromillions ticket.

But as Ben Chapman found out, only three of the foursome have been able to pop the champagne corks.

You can watch his full report below.

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Celebrations will have to wait for return of fourth lotto winner

Two couples from Teesside have scooped the one million pound prize in the EuroMillions - but they will have to wait to properly celebrate until one of the four winners is home.

Malcolm and Claire Sills, and Claire and Martin Tait, won the prize after they invested their winnings from a scratch card into the Tuesday draw.

However, Martin is currently working abroad and will not be home until next week, as his wife Claire explained:

“Martin works four weeks on and four weeks off in Nigeria, so he doesn’t return until next Friday. He calls regularly and we are very excited about the win but we haven’t had a chance to sit down yet and plan how we are going to spend it.”

– Claire Tait, lottery winner

Claire Sills told ITV about how the whole story had unfolded:

“It was Martin’s idea to use the money to buy an extra EuroMillions ticket for the Tuesday draw rather than just getting in another round of drinks. We’re all over the moon we followed his advice!

“I checked the ticket at Sainsbury’s and the lady said I had to call Camelot as they don’t pay out anything over £500. I thought we had won maybe a grand per couple, I cried when I found out it was actually £500,000 per couple! I just keep thinking this sort of thing doesn’t happen to people like me, it is still sinking in.”

– Claire Sills, lottery winner

"It was just by luck that we'd won this forty pounds on a scratch card"

Two couples from Teesside are celebrating after turning a 40 pound scratch card win into a million pounds.

Malcolm and Clare Sills, and Claire and Martin Tait, decided to reinvest their winnings on Euromillions tickets.

However, for the moment, only three of them can pop champagne as Martin works as an engineer in Nigeria.

He was represented at today's photoshoot by a cardboard cut out.

Cleveland couples celebrate after scooping one million pound prize

Two couples from Cleveland are celebrating after they won one million pounds in the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle draw.

The couples play in a syndicate that normally only plays the lottery on a Friday, but by chance they put in for the Tuesday draw this week - only to discover they had scooped the one million pound prize.

Clare and Malcolm Sills had been on holiday with their friends Martin and Claire Tait when the couples decided to use the money they had won on a £40 scratch card to buy a ticket for the Tuesday draw.

The ticket, bought in local Stockton-on-Tees, won each couple £500,000.

Malcolm and Clare Sills celebrate with friend and fellow-Lottery winner Claire Tait Credit: ITV News