Death of Pools winner Viv Nicholson

Viv Nicholson and husband Keith collect their Littlewoods pools cheque from Bruce Forsyth

VIV Nicholson, the football pools winner from Yorkshire who vowed to “spend, spend, spend” her £125,000 win in 1961, has died at the age of 79.

Mrs Nicholson, from Castleford, and her husband Keith blew their winnings - the equivalent of more than £3m today - on flashy cars, designer clothes, holidays and partying.

Tragedy struck just four years after the win when Keith was killed at the wheel of his Jaguar. The taxman took everything and Viv was declared bankrupt.

Mrs Nicholson’s family said she had died following a long fight against dementia after after developing the condition in 2009.

Her family requested donations to Dementia UK in her memory.

A West End musical celebrating Mrs Nicholson’s life - named Spend, Spend, Spend in honour of her catchphrase - premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds before a run at the West End.

It earned her considerable royalties, as did the 1978 autobiography that inspired it – but, true to her vow, she frittered all that away too.

“I can’t not do, I love to spend,” she said.