A LAKE District father-of-three is celebrating today after scooping £381,582.80 in the Euro Millions draw last Friday.

Hotelier Darren Hammond, 47, from Ambleside won with a Lucky Dip line after matching five main numbers and one Lucky Star.

He now plans to have the best Christmas ever with his wife, Debra, and three children.

Darren, a hotelier, said: “I play online and received an email to say… ‘Congratulations you have won’.

“When I logged in to my account I thought I had won £381. It took several minutes for it to sink in that I had actually won more than £381,000. I just didn’t see the extra numbers initially.

“I had to get Debra to check the numbers as I thought I was dreaming. When we realised we really had won £381,582.80 we just screamed with delight.

“We later discovered that Debra had won £10 in the same draw – not quite a win of the same size but it was certainly a lucky night for us!”

Darren, who is also a part-time firefighter with Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, says he will now be able to provide his family with the Christmas he has always dreamed of.

He added: “The win has come at the perfect time, just before Christmas.

“There will be lots of extra Christmas presents for the children and probably a few extra for my wife too. 2014 will be the best Christmas we have ever had.”

* For the full story and an interview with the lucky family, see this Thursday's Gazette.