EuroMillions £55m jackpot claimed – here are Sussex's big lottery winners over the years

We may never know whether the lucky winner is from Sussex or not, unless they choose to go public. But Sussex has had a fair few big winners over the years. In December, neighbours in Goring, Worthing, shared a £16.9million People's Postcode Lottery win, and three neighbours in Bognor Regis kicked off the new year in style after winning £90,000 in the People’s Postcode Lottery. Here, we look back at some of the most impressive wins within our communities.

EuroMillions jackpot win for Selsey builder: A Selsey builder who won £105million in 2019 promised to go back to work despite the huge EuroMillions jackpot win.

Self-employed builder Steve Thomson, 42, and his wife Lenka, a 41-year-old shopworker, were revealed as the winners of the £105,100,701.90 jackpot, on what was the 25th birthday of The National Lottery’s first ever draw – becoming the ninth biggest winners ever in the country at that time. After the win, Steve said he would continue working as he is ‘not the sort of person to sit around doing nothing’. Steve regularly takes part in the lottery and, as always, had bought his ticket from the local Pretty’s Newsagents in Orchard Parade.

Anonymous millionaire: In February, 2021, an anonymous West Sussex man, known only as Mr B, won more than £1million with a double win on the EuroMillions. Mr B struck lucky in the February 5 draw, matching the Millionaire Maker code and matching two numbers and one Lucky Star number in the main draw. The mystery man won £1,000,000 and £3.60.

Big win for dad-of-two: In December 2021, a father-of-two scooped more than £1m on the National Lottery and believed it was his reward for putting up the Christmas decorations for his young daughter. Paul McDonald, 48, had promised his youngest daughter he would decorate their family home in Bexhill, East Sussex, with tinsel and lights. He spent his Sunday afternoon doing it on December 12, and had just finished when he checked his emails and saw one congratulating him on his win. He assumed it was a Lucky Dip or £30, but then he logged into his account and saw the whopping Lotto prize amount – £1,063,516. You may also remember the £195m prize win – the biggest jackpot in EuroMillions history – in July this year. But we may never know if the UK winner of the record jackpot comes from Sussex. Click here to find out why.

More Postcode Lottery success: It’s not just the National Lottery that makes people rich in Sussex, as many have had success in the Postcode Lottery. There have been multiple small wins, but seven neighbours in Worthing netted a share of £270,000 last year after their postcode was announced as a winner with People’s Postcode Lottery. The residents playing in BN11 4DP took home £30,000 each, with a further two taking home £60k each, thanks to playing with two tickets. Eleven people in Horsham were celebrating in September 2021 after winning £1,000 each thanks to their lucky postcode. The Ropeland Way neighbours netted the windfall when RH12 5NY was announced as a Daily Prize winner with People’s Postcode Lottery. Two neighbours in Crawley had an amazing surprise in April 2021 after winning a £30,000 cash prize each with People’s Postcode Lottery. The prize came after their postcode, RH11 9RL, was announced as a winner with the lottery on Saturday, April 24.