THEY are the Southampton couple who stuck gold when they won £1M from the National Lottery.

Just five years ago, Geoff, 69, and Judith Coombes, 67, were tightening their belts to make sure they had enough in their retirement pot.

And the couple had a strike of luck when they won £1,000,000 with the National Lottery.

When they won, Geoff said: "This means a hell of a lot to us. We’ve always worked hard but neither of us have a private pension so we would have had to be very careful with our money when we retired.

"Now, we can just relax and enjoy life, spending time with our daughters, and twin grandsons and granddaughter.”

And the grandparents-of-three have certainly been able to relax and enjoy life since the life changing win in May 2016.

“We knew we didn’t want to spend the money on a new home, we were happy in our bungalow so have stayed put but we have been able to do renovations as and when we fancy it," Geoff said.

"We’ve had a new conservatory which was top of the list when we won, and our recent treat was a hot tub because the foot spa just wasn’t enough after our long lockdown walks, I think that purchase might be the sign we really are lottery winners."

The couple, who met at work and have been married for 47 years, said that helping out their family has been important to them.

Judith said: "We’ve been able to set a little aside for our daughter’s and grandchildren, but more than that, we’ve been able to enjoy spending time with them, making memories that will last a lifetime.

"We’ve taken our twin grandsons and parents to Lapland, and enjoyed little getaways with them, without their mum and dad interrupting the fun."

Geoff added: "Our daughter is a travel consultant and I think we may just be her best customers! Since the win we have travelled to 25 countries.

"At the time we said we wanted to travel, I’m not sure either of us would have dreamt we could have travelled so much.

"It’s been wonderful and we’ve seen sights that before the win we’d only ever have seen on the telly, to experience it in person is amazing and we count our blessings every single time."

Southampton has proved lucky in recent months with two residents from the city choosing to share news of their win.

John McFadden, 63, credits his plan to give up smoking for the twist of fate that led him to a £1M win on a scratchcard from The National Lottery in April.

The grandfather-of-two, who has already treated himself to a Skoda Kamiq and is the process of buying a new home, said: "I knew I had to do something about my smoking so instead of cigarettes, bought a vape in my local shop.

"With the change from that, I bought a Scratchcard which made me a millionaire."

Still working as a van driver, John has no plans to give up work just yet but despite the miles he does in his job, he can’t wait to take time off and go travelling again when it’s safe.

A dream trip to Bora Bora is likely to be his first luxury getaway followed by a holiday to Cambodia and Vietnam too.

Also celebrating a win in 2021 was devoted carer Karen Shipley, 65, who won £10,000 every month for a year when she matched five numbers on Set for Life.

The grandmother-of-two could be forgiven for planning early retirement given her amazing win but at the time of her win Karen had other plans.

"She said: “I’m going to carry on working until I reach the official retirement age next year and then I am going to take things easy.

"I don’t have plans to move, buy a new car or live the highlife.”

While she still has no plans to move, Karen did end up splashing out on a new car, and is making good on her original plan to visit Jamaica, the island of her father’s family, with a trip planned early next year.