A DELIGHTED couple are celebrating after scooping a lottery win of more than £400,000 - but have vowed to keep their feet on the ground.

Allan Prettyman, 48, and wife Julie, 47, said the realisation of winning £423,989.20 from the EuroMillions Rollover on April 20 has still not sunk in, but had already planned to take their youngest daughter on a family holiday of a lifetime.

Mr Prettyman, from Darlington, has run a carpet cleaning businesses for the last 30 years and now plans to semi-retire to spend more time with his family.

The couple are planning to take their five-year-old daughter to Walt Disney World Resort, Florida next year, but are treating themselves to a break to Tenerife in May half-term.

But the couple have no plans to upgrade their cars or home, and say they plan to be sensible with their windfall.

He said: "Being self-employed means you take work where you can get it and I’ve worked many ten hour days in the past. It’s just such a relief to know I can relax a little and look after myself and my family."

The father of five bought his winning ticket on the Friday of the draw but it wasn’t until the following Monday that he checked the ticket and found that he was more than £423,000 richer.

He added: "I’d just come home from work and was having my dinner when I suddenly remembered that I’d bought a EuroMillions ticket.

"Not expecting to have won, I used the app to check it. When that figure popped on my phone screen, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing – was it £4.20, was it £42? It was all just a blur."

Mrs Prettyman added: "I found the winning numbers online from Friday’s draw and read them out while Allan checked them off against his ticket. At first I thought it was all an elaborate joke, but when he said that we had matched five main numbers and one Lucky Star, I could tell he was serious."

The pair, who have been married for five years, now plan to spend more quality time together thanks to the win.

Mr Prettyman said: "I have no intentions of giving up work permanently just yet. I love what I do and have plenty of people that rely on me, but this win will help take the financial pressure off and allow me to work the hours that I want to."

The winning ticket was bought from County Harvest in Middleton St George.