20-year-old trainee gas engineer wins £7.5 million in lottery

A 20-year-old trainee gas engineer said he thought he was dreaming when he checked his lottery ticket and won £7.5 million.

James Clarkson, 20, from Carlisle, Cumbria, celebrated with a roast beef dinner and champagne with family and friends at his grandparents’ house, but went straight back to work fixing blocked drains the next day.

Mr Clarkson has already booked a luxury holiday to Cape Verde in West Africa, and bought a few designer items, and plans to pay off his parents’ mortgage and buy himself an Audi .

He said, “If you drive a cold work van all day, going from one job to another, you’ll understand.”

He said that he knew that many of his colleagues could not even insure such a car.

“I realized how weird it sounds,” he said.

Mr Clarkson left school during the Covid-19 pandemic and began an apprenticeship as a bricklayer, but a year ago he started working with his parents Stephen and Becky.

He said, “I know people might think I’m crazy for still working, but I want to and will, of course, have some nice vacations in between.”

“I have to have a purpose in life, plus dad won’t let me work anyway.”

Mr Clarkson’s winning Lotto jackpot numbers were drawn on January 4. When he checked his ticket the next morning, he was at his girlfriend’s house.

He said he woke his girlfriend up but she didn’t believe him.

“She gave him a sleepy look and said ‘No, you didn’t win’, turned over and went back to sleep,” he said.

However, he went back to his parents’ house and his family called him as soon as the National Lottery lines opened and confirmed his winning.

“I think I just started laughing,” he said. “I thought, ‘This is crazy!'”