Les Scadding and his wife Samantha Peachey-Scadding, from Caerleon in South Wales, have jumped into joint first place in The National Lottery Rich List, after winning a staggering £45570835.50.

They banked half of the jackpot in the EuroMillions draw last Friday, 6 November 2009. Les (58) and Samantha (38) quietly celebrated with a Sunday lunch in their favourite restaurant, after learning of the win on Saturday evening. Les went to Tesco on Spytty Road in Newport, where he bought his Lucky Dip ticket, to buy some groceries on Saturday evening, and decided to check his EuroMillions ticket on the way out.

He recalled, “When I asked the people behind the counter to check the numbers, the machine just printed out a pink slip, telling me to contact Camelot. I thought I might have won around £50000, and I rushed home to tell Samantha.” Les got back to the house, where Samantha was doing some work at her computer. She immediately went online to check their numbers, where it was revealed that two winners in the UK had shared over £90 million.

Les said “It was a very funny couple of minutes. We just looked at each other while it sunk in, before we got on the phone to Camelot.” However, the couple took the staggering news in their stride, and on Sunday went for lunch at their favourite restaurant, The Priory, in Caerleon, with Samantha’s mother.

Les said: “We always go to The Priory, as I know the owner really well, so we wouldn’t have gone anywhere different. We …