It’s Caribbean and Butlins as single mother scoops £1.6m jackpot

The 46-year-old, from Stanford-Le-Hope, Essex, hit the jackpot on April 14 but suffered a week of sleepless nights before realising her good luck.

She said: “I was in absolute shock. Like many people, money is really tight and I had just increased my hours at work to try to make ends meet.”

At first a shop assistant told her she had won £5,000 but then the true extent of her good fortune emerged. “When I thought I’d won £5,000, I was so shocked and delighted I simply took the ticket and walked out without paying for my shopping,” the mother-of-two, who works in Debenhams, said.

“My sister works at the Co-Op and the assistant manager rang her to say I hadn’t paid for my shopping.

“She immediately thought it was because my card had been declined but the manager explained that I’d left in shock.

“In the end it was my sister who worked out how much I’d won. She called me to tell me I’d actually won £1.6m. I was gobsmacked.”

Ms Styles will buy her dream car, an Audi TT, and is hoping to enjoy a holiday in the Caribbean –- but the family will still enjoy a break at Butlins that they booked earlier in the year.

She also plans to provide for her children Conor, 18, and Kelsie, 16, and help family members pay off their mortgages.

Although she will cut back her hours in the womenswear department at Lakeside Debenhams, she will carry on working.

Ms Styles said: “I like the people there and would miss them. But I am looking forward to not working on Saturdays any more.”

She added: “My ex-husband congratulated me and said ‘Well done, you’ve set the kids up for life’.

She has used the same numbers – 1, 5, 15, 22, 26 and 42 – ever since the lottery began. They are based on birthdays and the year of her mother’s birth.

She had considered changing her numbers but decided to stick with them when she bought her latest ticket on Friday, April 13.