National Lottery winners splash out on hot tub after £1m prize to soak up high life

A couple who won £1million from a scratchcard plunged into their new lives by immediately buying a luxury hot tub.

Mark Plowright and his wife Sara didn’t even realise how much they had landed until they phoned lottery operators Camelot.

He bought The National Lottery’s 50X Scratchcard for £5 while picking up essential supplies after work from a Nisa Local shop near his home in Doncaster, South Yorkshire on January 21.

Mark, 47, a concierge at Doncaster Sheffield Airport, now intends to fulfil his dream of taking first class flights.

He said: “I took our dog for a walk, got back and made a cup of tea and waited for Sara to get home.

“I then remembered the scratchcard so sat down to scratch it and I just kept seeing lots of ‘fifty-thousands’. I was adding them up to £300,000 just as Sara walked in.

“I said to her ‘I think we might have won a bit of money.’”

Training co-ordinator Sara, 42, checked the ticket and realised he hadn’t scratched off part of it.

She added it up and they thought they had won £750,000, which left them “beyond shocked”.

He continued: “We immediately took it to the shop to get it checked and they told us we needed to call Camelot.

“When we did, Camelot told us that we were in fact now millionaires.”

The news caused him to scream and jump up and down in excitement.

Their first purchase was a hot tub for Sara’s 42nd birthday – along with a spare inflatable version when they discovered the original would not be fitted in time.

They now plan to buy a house in the countryside and an MG Midget car, which they will drive to her dad’s home in Brittany, France.

Mark added: “I have a lot of original Star Wars memorabilia so a man cave to house it all in is a must, along with a pool table, bar and poker area.

“Our dog will enjoy more garden space and I’ll be trying to convince Sara that we need 16 more dogs.”

He also wants to return to Fiji, while Sara is keen to swim with pigs in Barbados.

Mark said: “After working with luxury planes everyday, I have always dreamed of experiencing flying first class on a long flight – and that’s what we will do, as soon as it’s safe to do so.”