Christmas in debt - then £5m lottery win

THEY desperately wanted their baby's first Christmas to be a day to remember. So, despite their mounting debts, Craig Pope and Claire Owen bought a sackful of presents for five-month-old daughter Seren.

As they crept into her room to lay them on her bed, they tried t o banish worries about bills - at least for Christmas Eve.

Later, 21-year-old Miss Owen checked their lottery ticket...and banished such worries for the rest of their lives. For the couple had won £5m in the National Lottery Christmas Eve Superdraw.

'When I saw the first three numbers, I thought: 'Great, that's a tenner that we could do with,' said Miss Owen. 'Then when all the other numbers came up, I couldn't believe my eyes. We were in a state of shock for hours on Christmas morning. Santa really came to us.'

Mr Pope, a 20-year-old software tester, said: 'We had forgotten to check our ticket because of all the last-minute excitement of getting ready for Christmas. 'I really thought Claire was joking. We must have checked those numbers 200 times before we were sure we had won. We didn't go to bed for hours because we were so excited.'

The couple, who have been together for two and a half years, earn less than £24,000 a year between them and were several thousand pounds in debt before their win.

They had to borrow £4,000 from Mr Pope's mother Paula to buy their first home, a £ 55,000 two-bedroom terrace in Porth, near Pontypridd, South Wales, in March.

They saved for months to buy Christmas toys and clothes for Seren - whose name means star in Welsh.

Miss Owen, a part-time administrative assistant, said: 'We've hardly had two pennies to rub together since Seren was born. Having a baby is expensive. We've had to scrimp and save on food and clothing - it has been a struggle for us. But we were determined to buy presents for Seren's first Christmas.

'We bought her a lovely rattle, soft toys and clothes, even though we didn't really have enough cash. Now we'll never have to worry about money again.'

The couple, who buy two Lucky Dip lottery tickets each week, had one of three winning tickets with the numbers 15, 19, 24, 36, 37 and 49. The cash could earn them £230,000 a year in interest. They plan to pay off all their debts, buy a new house and car and take a holiday to consider their future.

At a time of such good fortune, however, they are also thinking of others. They plan to make a substantial donation to help the victims of the tsunami tragedy in South East Asia. 'It makes us appreciate our family even more,' said Mr Pope.

But he is also looking forward to spoiling himself with a hospitality box at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium to watch Wales play England in the Six Nations rugby tournament in February.

He added: 'We plan to carry on working. We want to keep our feet on the ground. We could not ask for a better start to the New Year or for our daughter's life.'