A lucky couple scooped almost £1 million thanks to a present from their mother.

Their six winning National Lottery numbers were taken from a list of lucky numbers on a birth scroll Brian Chewter's mother gave him for Christmas two years ago.

Mr Chewter, 44, and wife Angela won £946,161 in the mid-week draw. The pair, from Uckfield, who always buy two lines for every Wednesday and Saturday draw, plan to keep playing to see if the birth scroll, entitled The Day You Were Born, can work its magic again.

The engineer who works in Hastings, was sitting in his bedroom when he discovered he had hit the jackpot.

He said: "I was upstairs on my own at the time flicking channels as you usually do. I flicked on to the Lottery and there were five numbers up and I thought they looked like my numbers.

"I didn't have my ticket but I had my birth scroll and as I started looking at it I thought I got all six numbers. I had to rush downstairs.

"The family was watching the other side and I told them to quickly turn over the tv. We realised we had got the numbers and it was just sheer disbelief. My hands were shaking."

The winning numbers were : 8 9 10 20 39 40 bonus 36 Mr Chewter bought the winning ticket from One Stop in Browns Lane, Uckfield, on the day of the draw.

He and his wife Angela, 40, who have two daughters Samantha, 14, and Carly, 11, have been playing the National Lottery since its launch.

Mr Chewter said the family could not believe it had won and had to keep checking the ticket.

He said: "When I phoned the hotline the lady told me keep it in a safe place. She said I should tape it to my body. I didn't do that but I did put it in my wallet."

Mr Chewter said the family would try to live as normal a life as possible but both he and his wife, who works in a coffee shop, were planning giving up their jobs.

He added: "The aim is to just put it away and live off the interest. The only purchases we might make is to get a small car. We are just taking it easy and seeing how things go. We are trying to live life as normal. "Tomorrow my wife will go up to her mum's as usual and I will probably be watching the sport on tv."

The last big lottery win in Sussex was in Seaford in 1999. Samantha Lainge matched all six numbers to collect £1.5 million.

Before that husband and wife Karen and Brian Hopcroft, of Goring-by-Sea, won £2,647,377 in August 1998.

Pals Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison from Hastings scooped the biggest ever lottery sum of £22,590,823 in June 1995.

Fifteen regulars at the Tudor Tavern, East Prestson, won £3.6million in May 1997.

A syndicate of 13 golf players at West Hove Golf Club landed their best hole-in-one when they scooped £61,229 with a lucky dip ticket.

Police also matched five numbers in 1998 but so many people won the draw that week each copper's share in the 12-member group was just £73.

Fay Millar fay.millar@theargus.co.uk