No dramas as 'boring' Lotto jackpot winners wait a week to bank £32m

A couple who scooped a £32.5 million rollover jackpot have said they may be the calmest Lotto winners ever after waiting a week to bank their windfall.

Gerry Cannings, 63, and his wife Lisa, 48, from Deeping St James, near Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, matched their numbers in the February 13 draw.

But after registering their winning ticket they decided to wait until the following Friday before cashing their cheque because they had decorators working on their home and were worried about having guests visit.

Mrs Cannings said: "We had dust sheets everywhere and literally didn't have anywhere for people to sit."

During the wait, Mr Cannings carried the ticket around in his wallet but said he was not worried about keeping it safe.

"It's just the way we are - we don't really worry about things or make a drama," he added.

"You could say we're a bit boring like that."

The couple had been visiting Mr Cannings' father, retired professional cricket Victor Cannings, 96, in Slough when they decided to buy a ticket.

Mr Cannings had gone to buy a fish and chip supper on the Saturday night when he spotted a poster advertising the lottery jackpot, and chose the numbers 15, 16, 23, 39, 48 and 59.

They struggled to check the winning numbers that night so waited to look online the following morning.

Describing the moment he eventually realised, Mr Cannings said: "I said 'Bloody hell - we've got the whole lot'.

"I double-checked it, reading it forwards and backwards. It just didn't seem real but it looked right."

Mr Cannings, a retired history teacher at Deeping School, and Mrs Cannings, who teaches languages at Hampton College, Peterborough, have an 11-year-old son, Sam.

Mr Cannings has two sons, Tom, 34, and Adam, 31, from a previous marriage, along with five grandchildren all aged under four.

The keen golfer said he planned to spend £2,999 on a flight in a Spitfire and the couple want to go on a tour of New Zealand.

They added they were keen not spoil their children - even making Sam wait until his birthday in June to get the Xbox he has always wanted.

Mr Cannings said: "We will help them buy houses and make sure they comfortable but we don't want money to take over their lives.

"We just want to carry on as boringly and normally as we always have."

They added they hoped to help charities, including the RNLI, which they have supported over the years.