A FATHER-OF-TWO has said his life has been made “less stressful” after winning more than £1 million on the National Lottery.

Paul McDonald, 48, from Bexhill, found out he won £1,063,516 after putting Christmas decorations up in December last year.

Five months on from his “utterly life-changing” win, Paul said: “Life is now a lot less stressful. It’s taken a huge weight off of my shoulders debt-wise. We can treat our family and friends, so it’s made a huge difference.”

So far, Paul has splashed out on a BMW X3, which cost around £40,000, and will be heading to Greece for a holiday in the summer.

“We’re off to Rhodes in a couple of months for a luxury holiday and I bought a car for Christmas, and that’s really it so far,” he said.

The Argus: Paul McDonald celebrating his lottery win in December last yearPaul McDonald celebrating his lottery win in December last year

Speaking to The Argus in December, Paul said he had no plans to rush out and buy a Rolex with his prize money.

He said: “I’ll secure the mortgage and my children’s future first, and then look at splashing out here and there.”

Paul said he was in a state of shock when he found out he had won the seven-figure prize.

He said: “I’d like to pretend I leapt about celebrating but instead I logged out, shut down the computer, made myself a cup of tea and watched the football for five minutes.

“I think it was my way of dealing with the surprise but a slurp of tea and a bit of football kickstarted me again.

“I then logged back into the account about 30 times, each time expecting it to disappear but always seeing the same winning amount.”

When he went to join his partner at a Christmas pantomime that his daughter was performing in, she misread a screengrab of the winning figure as £1,036 and whispered “Great, we can get the bathroom done,” before watching the rest of the show.

Paul said: “One minute you’re battling with extension leads and focused on putting up the Christmas lights, the next you’re a millionaire.”