Gas engineer starts 2025 with piping hot £7.5MMillion Lotto win

James Clarkson, 20, has made it clear he will continue working and earn his qualifications. But he has started to enjoy his good fortune by paying off his parents’ mortgage, booking a luxury holiday and buying a few treats.

The story of James’ incredible National Lottery win began when he bagged a £120 prize in the special Lotto Christmas Day Draw. He used some of his winnings to buy five more Lotto lines for the first draw of 2025 – two Lucky Dip lines and three lines of randomly selected numbers.

It was one of his randomly selected lines that won the amazing £7.5MMillion prize.

James said, “I was at my girlfriend’s house and got up early to check on the snowfall when I saw a message saying I’d won on the National Lottery app. I opened it straight away but couldn’t see anything to begin with; then I scrolled down and saw I’d matched all six main Lotto numbers to hit the jackpot and that my prize amount was £7,533,329! I just didn’t believe it! I thought I was dreaming!”

James woke up his girlfriend and showed her the message. She took a sleepy look, turned over and went back to sleep. James called his father who told him to come home so they could both look at the message.

James, his mum and dad and his 24-year-old brother Thomas, ended up sitting on his parents’ bed until 9am when the National Lottery Line opened. James said, “We called dead on nine and chatted through the ticket details and who I was. They confirmed mine was the winning ticket. I think I just started laughing. I thought, ‘this is mad!’

“I spent the rest of the day visiting my family and girlfriend who all live close by, all of us talking about the win. I have a big family and we are all close. News spread fast and we all ended up celebrating later at my Grandma’s and Grandad’s with a roast beef dinner and Champagne!”

James returned to reality on Monday morning when he went to work as usual with his father Stephen, 47. James said, “I was out in the cold fixing blocked drains the day after I found out I had won. I’m not going to stop working. I want to qualify as a heating engineer and then go from there.”

James has already booked an all-inclusive luxury break to Cape Verde and has treated himself to a few designer items, including a Gucci bag for his girlfriend and two new jackets for himself. He hopes his next purchase will be a new car.

As a massive Manchester City fan – his dad took him to his first game when he was three – he’s also looking forward to going to a lot more matches. James is planning to get a season ticket for him and his family.

His top priority is helping his family and paying off his parents’ mortgage felt like a natural first step. James said, “We are close and they have always been there for me. This win isn’t just for me, I want to make sure we all benefit.”

16th January 2025