Woman calls National Lottery about £1,000 prize and finds out she’s a millionaire

Couple say year was off to ‘rocky’ start before windfall

A woman called the National Lottery to claim what she thought was a £1,000 prize - only to discover she had won £1 million.

Marjorie Tyrie, from Folkestone, Kent, called the Lotto helpline after she received an email telling her she had won the “Millionaire Raffle”.

Unsure of exactly what this meant, the 58-year-old believed herself to perhaps be the winner of a £1,000 prize.

In an audio recording of the call, the mother-of-two is heard speaking to National Lottery helpline employee Raj, telling him: "Oh hello, I've got an email saying I've won, I think its £1,000 or something.

"I've just come home from work checking my emails and I thought I've got another Lucky Dip. Is it on that raffle thing maybe?"

However, the employee told her she had not won £1,000, but £1 million, adding: "Wow, that's fantastic news isn't it? It looks like you are a winner of £1million."

Mrs Tyrie, replied: "No, you're joking. Oh my God, I'm shaking now.

"I thought it was £1,000, I'm getting my zeros mixed up. You're not winding me up?

“No it can't be a million. That means I'm a millionaire. That means I'll be a millionaire!"

Speaking to the National Lottery, Mrs Tyrie said the year had started badly as her husband, Alan, also 58, had been made redundant.

Even though he had found a new job, as a welder, she explained: “Welding is a physically demanding job so it’ll be nice for him to hang up his welders mask and take it a bit easier for a while.”

Recalling the moment she found out, Mrs Tyrie said: "It was like a candid camera moment with me logging in and out, checking on my phone and finally, shaking like a leaf, calling The National Lottery to see if the win really was right.

"We have always worked hard for everything we have – whether buying our own home or putting our son though university – so we really know the value of hard work.”

As for what they plan to do with the money, she said: "We are going to take our time planning our future.

“It’s going to be a really exciting time and we want to make sure that we do all the things we always dreamt of and still have plenty left over to help our two boys and give us a good retirement."

"This year may have started a little rocky but my gosh, it soon picked up."