A husband and wife from Seaton are celebrating a £1,000,000 EuroMillions win which will make their dreams come true with a new family home.

The couple's winning EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker prize from the draw on Friday, March 5 will enable them to get the bigger family home they so desperately need.

Neil Smart, 50, who works at a builder's merchant, and Sue Smart, 51, a sales assistant, have three children, the youngest of whom was born with scoliosis.

Now aged nine, their son, who also suffers from associated conditions, needs support and regular trips to hospital in Birmingham.

The win means the family can move to a larger house with the space to care for their son as he grows up and help him with any of the support he may need.

The win will also mean a bigger car for the couple, which will make their regular 300-mile round trips to Birmingham a lot more comfortable.

Neil said: "We've never struggled for money, we have always been careful, but this will make such a difference to the whole family."

Despite matching the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker code on the Friday night, Neil didn't check the National Lottery app straight away and, consequently, only realised he had an important message urging him to check his account two days later.

"I don't check religiously and only got around to it on Sunday night. Sue had gone to work and the kids were upstairs, so I thought I'd check to see if I needed to put on a line for next week.

"When I logged in I immediately saw a message which said, 'Congratulations you've won £1M'.

"I thought it was a scam and called my daughter to read it. We both thought it couldn't be real, even though it was clearly on the National Lottery app and wasn't just some random email.

"She posted on our family group chat that Dad had won the lottery and Sue came back saying it was probably just a fiver!"

Once Sue was home, the couple checked the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker code repeatedly but refused to really believe they could be millionaires until they could get some official confirmation.

Neil admits that neither of them got much sleep that night.

Undeterred, Neil was up early to open up the local builders merchant where he works.

"I wasn't going to stay in bed and leave them in the lurch, what if I was wrong about the win?" he said.

Neil called Camelot at 9am to receive the news that, yes, he was a millionaire and, after letting Sue know the good news, he went back to work to complete his shift.

The couple admitted to being excited but remained very calm until everything was finalised. Once the money was cleared in the bank the following Thursday, the pair popped open the Champagne and celebrated their amazing fortune.

Neil and Sue have three children and one grandchild. Their eldest daughter, aged 22, has moved out, but the win has allowed Sue to quit her job as a sales assistant and help look after her two-year-old grandson.

Their second daughter, aged 18, is still studying at college.

A larger house will make things easier for the whole family. Currently, their son has the box room in their three-bedroom home but the couple have already put an offer in on a new, larger property.

While they will stay local, the new home means they will be able to help him as he grows up, entertain their grandchild and also support their own parents as they get older.

Neil said: "People have said, 'well done, it couldn't happen to a nicer family', that it is nice to see ordinary people win, which is all lovely to hear.

"But the win, and especially the new home, will make a difference to our whole family for years to come, and that is so important."

Neil plans to make a donation to the Ronald McDonald House charity which has supported the family when they most needed help.

The charity houses families nearby when their child is in hospital, potentially far from home.

He said: "They have given me somewhere to stay a couple of times when I have really needed help. I want to help them out and give something back. I can't change the world with what I have but every little helps."

There will also be treats for the hard-working couple. Having been on cruises with friends in the past, they are looking forward to taking the family on a trip.

The win means that next time they can book a suite with a balcony so they can all have a taste of first class cruising.

Neil tends to buy tickets for Friday EuroMillions draws when the jackpot has caught his eye. He bought his winning EuroMillions ticket online via the National Lottery app.

EuroMillions Millionaire Maker guarantees to create a millionaire in every draw. For every EuroMillions line played, UK players automatically receive a UK Millionaire Maker code printed on their ticket. Neil's winning UK Millionaire Maker code on Friday, March 5 was HDPT85828.

By playing any National Lottery game, players help to raise an average of £30M every week for National Lottery Good Causes across the UK.

This money helps support everything from the local charity making a difference where you live through to helping our nation's athletes win Olympic and Paralympic gold medals.

To date, more than £42billion has been raised and distributed to National Lottery Good Causes through more than 625,000 individual grants.

Thanks to National Lottery players, over £1billion is being used by charities and organisations affected by the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, which includes over £600million in funding support from the National Lottery Community Fund which is being used to help groups best placed to support people and communities through the crisis.