Flying start for lottery winners

Martyn and Sandra White initially thought they had won £10

A Bedfordshire couple returned from a holiday in Italy to receive £10m winnings on the National Lottery.

Martyn and Sandra White were about to leave their Luton home and checked their flights online for any delays.

Mr White spotted an e-mail saying they had won £10.7m but were not able to confirm the win with Camelot until their return.

The couple, who have been married for 26 years, plan to spend some of their winnings on their three children.

Mr White, a 53-year-old sales manager, said: "I saw there was an e-mail from the National Lottery saying I was a winner, but I assumed we had won a tenner again.

Martyn and Sandra White made the discovery online

"It took me ages to spot the amount and, even then, I thought the e-mail was wrong."

The couple decided not to splash out while on holiday until they had confirmed their win.

Mr White said: "I spent a week of thinking that this cannot be true. We wouldn't spend anything until we were 100% sure."

They now plan to spend their winnings on a new house which will include a cinema, games room, snooker table and swimming pool.