Railway Tavern pub manager and husband scoop £1m in National Lottery

Bev Dixon, who runs the Railway Tavern in Westleigh, and her husband Malcolm won the seven-figure sum in the Lotto draw on Wednesday, January 29.

But the couple, who have 13 grandchildren, initially thought they had only won £1,000 before Malcolm checked the ticket again to see they had actually won a cool million.

Malcolm, 43, and Bev, 50, who celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday, treated pub regulars to free drinks all night last Thursday after landing the prize.

At the top of their wishlist are two new knees for Bev and a new house for the couple, who have always lived in rented homes.

Malcolm has also had to give up his job as a brick worker recently due to injury.

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Malcolm said: “This win couldn’t have come at a better time. Bev is in constant pain with her knees so this will definitely be the first big spend.

“Your health is so important – the win will enable us to afford to give Bev a totally new lease of life.

“We have a million things going through our heads which we would like to buy but we just want to take our time.

"This win will mean we will never have any more money worries.”

Malcolm described the moment he realised they were £1m richer through the ticket, which got five numbers and the bonus ball.

“I was taking my two dogs for a walk and I remembered I hadn’t checked my lottery tickets,” he said.

“I had bought two Lotto Lucky Dips – one each for my wife and myself.

"I checked the numbers on my phone and thought 'amazing we have won £1,000'.

“I immediately texted my wife and said, ‘you will never guess Bev, we’ve won £1,000!’

“I then thought I would just double-check this was right – I could not believe it!

“It was only when I went to check for a second time that I saw all of the zeros. I was just in a state of shock.

"I immediately called Bev again and said ‘I’ve got it wrong, we have in fact won £1m!’

"She just thought I was joking and said, ‘no that can’t be right!’ It was a surreal moment and one I’ll never forget.

“We will finally be able to afford a house of our own and move closer to our three children and 13 grandchildren.”

Malcolm also thought he had won £275,000 weeks after the National Lottery launched in 1994 after seeing his usual numbers had come up – but his mum hadn’t bought him a ticket due to the size of the queue in the ship.

Bev also managed Hogans Bar in Leigh.