Video: We’ll spend, spend, spend, say Halifax’s newest millionaires

Penny and Mark Sutcliffe say their windfall of £988,373 pounds is the “perfect amount” and any more money would be too much for them to handle.

Their windfall came on just the right week because Penny had forgotten to put their regular numbers on just the week before.

The married couple, of Northowram, Halifax, are determined to enjoy the holiday of a lifetime going on a cruise to the Mediterranean or Caribbean, a spanking new house and converting Mark’s classic convertible

Volkswagen Golf.

Their three children also lost no time in submitting their own ambitious wish lists but Mark says he has already scrubbed some of them off.

The pair scooped the prize in Saturday’s Lotto, sharing the £3,953,492 jackpot with three other winners.

Mark discovered the news when he checked the numbers on Teletext on Sunday afternoon.

The 43-year-old, said: “We always said if we won the lottery we would like enough so we could just enjoy life. There are three other families in this situation so its nice to share the feeling in these times.

“It’s a nice amount, we wouldn’t have wanted too much, it’s perfect for us to look after our family. When I saw the numbers I thought it was a mistake. I had to check on my laptop and keep checking. It looks like someone has just put your numbers there.”

But he had to wait an agonising 20 minutes before he could show his childhood sweetheart Penny the winning ticket as she was out walking the couple’s six month old black Labrador puppy Maisie when Mark rang

Penny, 39, said the couple nearly missed out on scooping the jackpot as she often forgets to buy their ticket.

She said: “We usually play every week but I forgot to play the week before. Thank goodness I remembered this week.”

The couple have played the same numbers since the National Lottery started in 1994, winning £99 pounds over 10 years ago, plus the odd £10 win.

Mark said: “Our first line is a combination of family birthdays and significant numbers and the line we won with is one number added to every date.

“I bought my old Golf about two years ago and I’ve wanted to restore it for ages, now I finally can.”

The couple also plan to buy an Audi Q5

Penny added: “I’m looking forward to going house hunting over the next few weeks.

“I’d also like to go to New York for a long weekend and hit the shops and buy lots of shoes.”

Asked whether they would be contributing to good causes they were non-committal.

The couple had kept the lucky ticket on their kitchen worktop until they realised how much it was worth, then Mark hid it in a secret location he still refuses to reveal, even to his wife.

Mark, a warehouse manager, and Penny, an independent energy consultant, have yet to decide whether to carry on working but say they won’t move far from the village they live in where Mark grew up.

The winning ticket was bought from Towngate Stores in Halifax. The winning numbers were 2, 9, 16, 21, 31 and 44.