A LUCKY syndicate leader described the moment he discovered his group had won more than £70,000 on the National Lottery.

Derek Middleton, of Weymouth, said he was overjoyed to tell eight fellow workers at building firm Stepnell Limited in Poole their numbers had come up.

The group, who call themselves ‘Lotter Loonies’, matched five numbers in the draw on April 7.

Mr Middleton, a director at the company’s regional office, said: “I’ve been running the syndicate for the last couple of years.

“I looked on the website last Saturday and it said I had a message.

“I didn’t really think much of it. I’m quite used to that, because I’ve had ones that say ‘you’ve won £10’ or some such amount before.

“But when it said we’d won £70,191 I just couldn’t believe it.

“I just couldn’t wait to go in to work and tell everyone the good news.

“We’d had a pretty tough time the week before, so it was a ray of sunshine to give everyone. I was walking on air.”

The syndicate members, ranging from their twenties to sixties, have been out for a meal to celebrate their win.

They have divided the pot equally to each receive £7,800.

Mr Middleton said that he and wife Hazel, who have a grown-up son and daughter, will use the money to refurbish their kitchen.

Mr Middleton, 60, said: “It will be nice to always have that reminder of our win.

“The youngest lad in the syndicate has a baby on the way, so it was really nice for him.

“I’ve worked with these people for a number of years and it was great to be able to give them such good news.”