A South Essex millionaire has revealed how she went from relying on long shifts at work to make ends meet to buying four Audis in one day after she scooped £3million on a scratch card.

On January 20 last year, Susan Richards, 51, from Billericay, had finished a nightshift at work and decided to stop off at the shops before she went home.

She was undecided on whether to go to the Co-op or Sainsbury’s and eventually chose the latter - which turned out to be the most lucrative decision she ever made.

When at the supermarket, Susan purchased some bread and sandwich filler and when she was at the counter she took the impromptu decision to buy a scratch card.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out £10 in change, so she bought a scratch card of that price – which gave her the opportunity to win anything up to £3million.

She returned to her car, scratched the card and found she had a matching number – 20 - which revealed she had won the jackpot.

Susan said: “I was gobsmacked. I looked out of the window, then back at my card, then out of the window again, then back at my card.”

Susan returned to the store and presented the ticket to the staff member who then put her in contact with Camelot, which runs the National Lottery.

She said: “The woman on the phone told me to guard this ticket with my life and go home and have a glass of wine. So I went back and had a bottle.

“When my partner phoned me, he said ‘you sound like you have a feather in your knickers’ and I replied ‘I do, a £3million feather’.”

Echo:

To celebrate, Susan and her partner, Barry Maddox, went with her two sons for dinner.

While there, the waitress chatted with them about wanting to win the lottery - even though the family had not mentioned their win.

Susan said: “The waitress turned around and said ‘this time next year we’ll all be millionaires’. I couldn’t believe it, we hadn’t said a word.”

The very next day, Susan went out and bought four Audi cars - one each for her, Barry and her two sons.

Since then, Susan has purchased a motorhome, a house for herself and Barry and a house for her sons.

She even bought a lovely home for her mum on Southend seafront.

Susan had originally been in Housing Association property, but following this win she managed to buy her own property and put her two sons, who are aged 22 and 24, on the property ladder.

They have also been on a number of adventurous trips, including a trip to Australia to see visit Barry’s sister and a Norwegian cruise with Susan’s mum.

But the pair have not lost touch with their previous lives and are still in work.

Susan was a care worker before her win and is still a care worker today.

She said: “When I had my win, my team leader at work said that she didn’t want me to leave.”

Susan and Barry still socialise with their old friends, who they are going to Tenerife with soon, and are still down-to-earth.

Susan added: “I still live in the real world. A bartender accidentally poured a drink on me recently and I was not bothered.”