Tonight’s Euromillions jackpot is a whopping £208m – looking back at Sussex lottery winners over the years

The huge prize is about as big as it can get, with the jackpot capped at €250million – roughly £209million – and players in Sussex will still be hoping to add their name to the county’s roll call of lottery big winners over the years.

They include Steve and Lenka Thomson, who scopped a huge £105million in November, 2019. Builder Steve discovered the win while waiting to be picked up for work, and was unaware that a UK winner had banked the giant jackpot when he scanned down his three lines comparing them to the winning numbers. He said: “I am not sure I even looked at the first two lines, the third one just jumped out and I could instantly tell they all matched. I started shaking a lot.” Steve drove to the shop where Lenka worked to tell her the news. The couple sat in Steve’s work van and he shakily handed Lenka the ticket. She checked it and then scanned it using the National Lottery App and was overjoyed to see what she thought was a £105,000 win – immediately asking if they could go away somewhere for Christmas. Steve had to point out the win was far more than that.

Steve and Lenka are not the only big winners from Sussex over the years. Here, we look back at some of the others...

In November, 2024, a mystery woman known only as Mrs J from Sussex landed a £1 million prize in the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker – as well as £2.60 in the main draw.

In December 2021, a father-of-two scooped more than £1million on the National Lottery – and believed it was his reward for putting up the Christmas decorations for his young daughter. Paul McDonald had promised his youngest daughter he would decorate their family home in Bexhill, East Sussex, with tinsel and lights. He spent his Sunday afternoon doing it on December 12, and had just finished when he checked his emails and saw one congratulating him on his win. He assumed it was a Lucky Dip or £30, but then logged into his account and saw the whopping Lotto prize amount – £1,063,516.

In February, 2021, an anonymous West Sussex man, known only as Mr B, won more than £1million with a double win on the EuroMillions. Mr B struck lucky in the February 5 draw, matching the Millionaire Maker code, winning him £1million, and also matching two numbers and one Lucky Star number in the main draw – winning an additional £3.60.

A mum-of-one from Shoreham who won £1million on Christmas Eve, 2019, believed it was a gift from her beloved mum who she lost earlier in the year. Lizbet Ramus, whose mum Lavender tragically died from an aneurysm after celebrating her 60th wedding anniversary in 2018, said a bit of her mum’s fairy dust was at play to ensure her ticked matched the Euromillions UK Millionaire Maker code in the Euromillions Draw. She said at the time: “I used the National Lottery App on my phone and was chuffed when the first ticket won a Lucky Dip. Feeling a little more upbeat, I scanned the second and all these noughts appeared. I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

In September, 2014, a dad from St Leonards scooped £1million on the Euromillions Raffle. Former warehouse worker Anthony Wray discovered the win over an early morning cup of tea having bought his EuroMillions ticket at the Silverhill Asda in St Leonards.

In March, 2011, a lorry driver became an overnight multi-millionaire after popping in to a Hailsham newsagents to buy a pint of milk and also getting a lottery ticket. Matthew Breach, of Battle, was the only winner of the entire £17.8million National Lottery triple rollover jackpot.

In July, 2007, Diane Robson, of Eastbourne, won £2.4million on the National Lottery after matching all six numbers with a Lucky Dip ticket. She said at the time: “It was 9.30am on Sunday – I hadn’t checked the night before because I had been at a party. I put the numbers up on Teletext and I looked, and I looked again and my head nearly exploded. I just started to shake.”

Diane was not the first Eastbourne winner – in June, 2002, David and Gaynor Funnell, from Eastbourne, won more than £3.5million on the Lotto, which David shared with his brother. The couple used their winnings to realise a lifelong ambition of running a farm.

In 1999, Sam Lange and Malcolm Russell, of Seaford, won £1.5million. In 2007, they met up with other winners at Brighton’s Grand Hotel. Sam said at the time: “We had just been away on holiday and got back that Saturday and I had been rushing to go to work. I managed to get the ticket. Malcolm had come home and put the TV on and he recognised the numbers. He rang me and asked if I had put the ticket on and I said yes. He came and got it from the petrol station and I continued with my shift. I didn’t believe him at first, I had no way of knowing he was telling the truth!”

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In June, 1995, Mark Gardiner, from Hastings, became – at that point – the winner of one of the biggest Lotto jackpots paid out. He shared £22.5million with his friend Paul Maddison.

National Lottery games are not the only ones which have seen people from Sussex win life-changing sums of money, with many having success in the

In December, 2022, Christmas came early for hundreds of people in Worthing who shared a £16.9million prize. More than 700 people in the BN12 4 postcode area picked up a cheque, meaning about one in ten residents of Goring-by-Sea won. Twelve neighbours in the full winning postcode – BN12 4TR, Ardingly Drive – won £379,062 for every ticket played with. Jason Donovan, a People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador, surprised some of the winners on their doorsteps with the good news.

They weren’t the first People’s Postcode Lottery winners in Worthing, though. The Findon Valley postcode BN14 0DA was picked out on Saturday, January 4, 2020, in the final week of the #30KADAY Christmas campaign and the £30,000 prize went to one resident in Vale Drive. Six days later, ten more people were celebrating after the postcode BN12 6FH was picked out as a Daily Prize winner. The lucky ticket holders in Nightingale Avenue, Durrington, each won £1,000.

Among the other People’s Postcode Lottery winners in Sussex were three neighbours in Bognor Regis who kicked off 2023 in style after sharing £90,000, 11 people in Horsham who were celebrating in September, 2021, after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode, and two neighbours in Crawley who had an amazing surprise in April, 2021, after winning a £30,000 cash prize each with People’s Postcode Lottery.