The £3m Smile (From Swindon Advertiser)

The £3m Smile

9:01am Thursday 4th May 2006 in News By Lyndsay Scanlan

SITTING quietly in the corner of a bar knocking back a pint of lager is nothing out of the ordinary for a Sunday evening.

But something extraordinary had just happened to Maria Gray.

She had won £2,905,372 on the National Lottery.

But rather than splashing out on a bottle of the finest Cristal champagne to celebrate her windfall, Maria plumped for a bottle of Budweiser and a glass of bubbly for her sister Nicola Holloway at the De Vere Hotel instead.

And the 43-year-old is thrilled that she can now pay off the holiday to Gran Canaria she booked a month ago.

Until Sunday the Honda production engineer didn't know how she was going to scrape the cash together to pay off her credit card bill.

For the last 12 years Maria has religiously bought a lucky dip lottery ticket from Delta News in Westlea every Saturday afternoon.

And each week she has scrunched it up in her pocket and thought nothing more of it except that she had wasted yet another pound she couldn't afford, "I'm basically too lazy to pick the numbers myself so I go for the lucky dip instead," she said.

As usual, Maria had not given the lottery a second thought as she was getting ready to go out for a Sunday roast.

"My friend Jackie Fishlock got the numbers on her mobile and left them on my kitchen table for me," she said.

"I thought it was a wind-up, I couldn't believe I had the jackpot.

"I was shaking so much, I just couldn't take it all in.

"Jackie phoned the number on the back of the ticket to say I had won. It was all so weird.

"I'm just an ordinary working class girl with an ordinary life.

"This doesn't happen to people like me.

"To be honest I would have been happy with £10."

Maria's family live in Chiseldon and she headed straight to her mum's house to tell her the good news.

"I gave mum a big hug but she couldn't believe what had happened. She was in a state of shock, we all were."

Maria wanted to do something special to celebrate her success but didn't know what.

"I was going to go to the Harvester with Nicola but then I said No let's go to the De Vere, I can afford it'.

"I was sat in the corner of the bar looking into my drink thinking I cannot believe this has happened.

"The only thing I ever won was a box of sweets on a Christmas raffle and my niece ate them all."

But Maria will have to start believing it soon because she has a big decision to make whether to rejoin the Honda production line on Monday morning.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I've worked in a factory since I was 16 and I do like my job.

"I've been in cuckoo land for the last few days so I think I just need some time at home on my own to sit with my cats and decide what to do," she said.

"But I don't want this to change my life. I've already told my family to give me a kick if I get too big for my boots. This is just a bonus for me and my family.

"I've got bills like everyone else. I've never had lots of money so this will help us out a bit."

But there are a few things on her to buy' list already. "I'm taking Nicola on holiday next summer for her 40th birthday," Maria said.

"It cost me £1,200 and I just put it on my credit card and have been worrying about how I was going to pay for it ever since. Now I guess I don't need to pull my belt in so tight."

She added: "I don't think I'm going to go mad with the money but I do want to go to Las Vegas, it's just somewhere I've really wanted to go to."

Maria was presented with her cheque at a Las Vegas-themed ceremony in the De Vere Hotel, where she celebrated her good fortune, yesterday, attended by an Elvis lookalike and a Playboy bunny girl.

Mum Patricia Gray, 65, is thrilled that her daughter has finally had a stroke of luck.

"She has worked hard her whole life, she deserves this, she really does," she said.

And Honda has also offered congratulations to Maria .

Spokeswoman Julie Cameron said: "It's wonderful news for her. We would like to see her back but you can't blame her if she decides not to," she said.

The winning numbers were: 10, 29, 31, 32, 36, 47 and the bonus ball was 17.

Just the ticket for shop owner Lisa

THE owner of Delta News in Westlea is expecting a flurry of customers all hoping to share in Maria Gray's success.

Owner Lisa Eryilmaz could not believe that she was hearing correctly when Camelot called to say her shop had sold a winning ticket.

But she is thrilled the lucky winner was a familiar face. "I was so shocked when I got the call," she said. "We sell so many lottery tickets to all sorts of people but to get a winner is absolutely fantastic news.

"Maria comes in here every Saturday and has done for years so I was really pleased when I found out it was her who had won.

"I can't imagine what she's going to do with the money."

She added: "I'm just hoping we have lots more people come into the shop to buy a ticket, maybe we'll have another winner."

Lisa is now waiting for Camelot to send her a sign in the form of two feet to put in front of the lottery machine telling customers a millionaire was created in that very spot.

What's on wish list

• A kettle for her sister Nicola. £5.99 from Argos.

• A bungalow in the countryside around Swindon.

• A brand new car. Top of her wish list would be an MG Rover, a Honda Civic or a Mini
• A holiday to Las Vegas later this year and a holiday to Gran Canaria for her sister's 40th birthday next year.

• A pack of Carling

What she could buy

• 1,202 42inch Panasonic HD Ready Plasma screen televisions at £2,495 each.

• 8.57m copies of the Swindon Advertiser at 35p
• 30 Porsche 911 Turbo cars, capable of reaching speeds of up to 193mph, at £97,840.

• 3,484 pairs of Manolo Blahnik shoes at £861
• 10,169 bottles of Louis Roedrer Cristal Rose 1996 Champagne at £295 a bottle.