AN ORSETT pub syndicate have been toasting their good fortune, after they discovered a £187,000 EuroMillions win on Valentine’s Day.

The syndicate, a group playing the National Lottery, of sixteen from The Kings Arms, on Stifford Clays Road in Orsett, are each £11,694.36 better off after their ticket matched five numbers and one lucky star in the EuroMillions draw on Tuesday February 10.

The group includes the pub landlady, Emma Crawford, 47 and her sister. Also celebrating are a host of pub regulars many of whom have been in the syndicate since it started almost three years ago.

The Kings Arm Syndicate bought their winning ticket at Tesco Express on Crammavill Street in Grays.

Landlady Emma, who buys the tickets for the EuroMillions draws on a Tuesday and Friday, discovered the win as she was putting a roast chicken in the oven in readiness for a Valentine’s meal.

She said: “Although I’m the syndicate leader, I’ve got a bit of a reputation for being a bit slow at checking our tickets, sometimes not getting around to it until a few months later!

“So I have absolutely no idea what made me use the ticket scanning function on the National Lottery app on my phone to check that ticket on Valentine’s Day, I haven’t used it for months.

“There was a stack of tickets on the side in the kitchen and I popped the chicken in the oven, picked up my phone and scanned the top ticket all in one move. It just so happened the top ticket was worth £187,109.80!”