Thrilled Richard Stewart had cause for double celebration when he was presented with his lottery win on his birthday.

Richard, 37, scooped £144,531 after matching five numbers and the bonus ball on the Lotto draw on Saturday, July 30.

Now he and his 35-year-old fiance Sasha are drawing up a wish list of items to buy. Top of their list is to pay off the mortgage on their home in Bognor.

Richard, who works at Lloyds TSB in Worthing, did not know he had won until the next morning when he checked his numbers in the Sunday papers.

Portsmouth FC supporter Richard said: "Sasha wasn't in the room when I was checking my numbers so, when I realised, I ran out to tell her and she was delighted.

"I phoned my mum soon afterwards and she was completely thrilled for me.

"We're going to spend the winnings on paying the mortgage off and are looking forward to deciding what to do with the rest."

Richard is a scooter fanatic and is in the middle of rebuilding a Vespa and now plans to spend some of his winnings on his project.

Part of the money is also expected to go towards paying for the couple's wedding next year.

Richard has played the National Lottery since it started and plays Lotto regularly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, using the same numbers. He bought his winning ticket from Linden Stores, in Linden Road, Bognor.

The winning numbers were 3, 9, 13, 35, 43, 45 and the bonus number was 8.

Richard's win pales when compared to other jackpots scooped by Sussex-based winners.

Still the biggest win by far was by ex-business partners Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison from Hastings.

They jointly won £22.6 million in June 1995, making them the UK's biggest winners to date.