Most people who win the Lottery insist they will not change, but it rarely works out like that. As Camelot celebrates its 10th anniversary, Lindsay Jennings meets a couple who really have stayed the same.

PARKED on the driveway there is a silver 4x4 pick-up. There is no gleaming red Ferrari, no sleek Maserati, just the pick-up on a driveway, leading to a garage and a neat family home.

Mark Brudenell and his wife Cheryl don't like ostentation. Even the modest four-bed detached house, tucked away in the corner of a cul-de-sac in Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, gives no indication of its Lottery winning inhabitants.

Inside, the average-sized living room is like any other modern home, decorated in warm, neutral colours of terracotta and cream. It matches the welcoming temperament of its owners, who are sitting side by side on their cream sofa, animatedly describing Camelot's 10th birthday party last weekend. The Lottery operator put them up in the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel in London and held a big celebrity-studded party at Madame Tussauds.

"We had a great time, but then we always do with Camelot," says Mark, 40. "We've got to know a lot of other winners through them so it's just like seeing old mates now. The thing which struck me the most when we went to London is that we're all just normal people."

It is difficult to understand how you could possible be normal after scooping just under a million, but Mark and Cheryl seem to manage it.

Lady Luck called on the pair one wintry night in February, 1997. Spookily, Mark had changed his old Lottery numbers just weeks earlier after waking up one morning with a new set in his head.

"I used to work driving HGVs and I came home from Southampton one night and woke up with the numbers in my head," recalls Mark.

"I wouldn't say it was a dream, but I couldn't get them out of my head." Cheryl and sons Paul, now 19, and Karl, 20, pleaded with him not to change them, superstitiously envisaging his old numbers coming up and them not winning a penny. But fortunately for them, he ignored their advice.

On the winning Saturday night, Mark was not in the best of moods, having watched his beloved Middlesbrough lose to Newcastle. As they waited for friends to pick them up for a night out, Cheryl put the Lottery draw on the television.

"I remember it was Mandy Dingle doing the draw and I was saying 'haway Mandy, pull my balls out'," grins Mark. "When the first three came out, I thought, 'I've won a tenner' but then the fourth and the fifth came and after that I said, 'we only need number 27'."

"It's the kind of thing you can't put into words," chips in Cheryl, 38. "It was scary, exciting, like a rollercoaster. He was watching so quietly, trying to keep his thoughts together and I was leaping about going ballistic."

That night, the couple decided to stay in and celebrate, characteristically opting for "a few cans" from the local off-licence rather than a night on the champagne. They knew they had a share of about £7.9m, but they didn't know how many they would share it with. It turned out it was with seven others, meaning they received £916,915.

Prior to their win, the couple were living in a three-bed semi on a council estate in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough. Mark was a long distance lorry driver and Cheryl worked as a manageress in a baker's shop. The couple drove a five-year-old VW Passat and money was tight. They saved hard to afford an annual package holiday to Spain.

But now they could splash out on a luxury trip anywhere in the world. They opted for a fortnight in Jamaica with their parents and the children.

"We felt we needed the time out to relax and make some decisions," says Mark.

One of their first purchases on their return was a brand new Jaguar XJ Sport for Mark - a car he'd always dreamed of owning. The couple later moved house, trading up to the four-bed detached they now live in. They also decided to give up their jobs.

"When I spoke to my boss, he told me to take a bit of time out," says Mark. "But I said I'd made my mind up."

The couple started to live a life of leisure. Mark learned how to play golf and joined Wynyard Golf Club, while Cheryl enjoyed lunches out with friends and sessions at the gym. There were more nice holidays - Caribbean cruises and the Maldives for the Millennium- but after four years, Mark admits he began to get a tad bored.

"For a while you just enjoy it, but then you start to take stock," he admits. "When you're going down to the golf club and all your friends are at work, you find yourself sitting there and thinking, 'this isn't much fun'."

Deciding to go back to work, Mark approached one of his golfing friends, Allan Ryder, who had a building company. He invested in it and the pair watched Almark Ltd grow into a building company and a window and conservatory manufacturer with a showroom and factory on the Preston Farm Industrial Estate in Stockton. The firm now employs 17 people. The Jaguar has been replaced with the pick-up.

"It's my life now," says Mark. "I put more hours into the business than I ever did working before. When we go on holiday now we go with my partner and his wife, but we've worked hard and I enjoy the holidays more because of it."

For Cheryl, the win has meant an end to rushing around balancing home and work and precious time watching her two sons grow up.

"I used to get up and never stop until I went to bed, but now I take life at a slower pace," she says.

Looking fit and tanned and smartly dressed in a multi-coloured jumper and pinstripe trousers, she clearly looks after herself. But she says she shuns designer labels and prefers to shop at high street stores like Next and M&S. Mark prefers Debenhams.

Like many Lottery winners, the strain of a big win could have seen them end up in the divorce courts. But the couple, who met at a local youth club when Cheryl was 16 and Mark 18, say they're as happy as ever.

"We've been married 21 years now," says Mark, with his arm around his wife. It is an achievement. But I think we're quite laid back, and take each day as it comes."

Amazingly, the couple say there have been no downsides to winning the Lottery. They have never received one single begging letter, had the tabloid papers doorstepping them or been shunned by jealous friends or relatives.

"No-one has treated us any differently," shrugs Mark. "But then I think that's because we don't swan around thinking we're any better than anyone else."

The couple have done their bit for others, sponsoring local football teams and co-sponsoring Atlantic rowers George Rock and Nigel Morris, of Ingleby Barwick, who are planning another world record bid next June.

"It's nice to give a little bit back," Mark says.

Their down-to-earth nature has also rubbed-off on their two sons. Paul is an apprentice electrician and Karl a mechanical engineer.

But as much as their win has seen their dreams come true, there is still one thing which money can't buy.

"The one thing I would wish for is to meet Robbie Williams," sighs Cheryl. "I've been to see him umpteen times, but I haven't met him yet. I'll just have to wait and see."