AN unemployed gardener from Bolton cracked open the champagne after scooping £4,255,018 on the EuroMillions Lottery.

Graham Everall, aged 28, and wife Julie, aged 36, of Johnson Fold, hit the jackpot in last Friday's draw, along with two other winners.

Picking up their cheque at the Reebok Stadium on Tuesday, the couple, who have been married for seven years and have four children, Dean, aged 14, 10-year-old Abi, Amy, aged six and three-year-old Tyler-John, said they were still waiting for the win to sink in.

Less than a week ago, they were struggling to make ends meet on benefits while Mr Everall tried to find work as a landscape gardener.

Mr Everall bought the winning ticket, which was a lucky dip, from the post office in Moss Bank Way but only realised his numbers had come up when he checked them on Teletext late that night.

He said: "Julie was upstairs when I checked the numbers. I couldn't believe what I was seeing so when Julie came downstairs I asked her to check the ticket again. We really couldn't believe it was happening - winning the lottery is something you only dream of."

"I stayed up through the night with the winning ticket safe in my pocket waiting until I could ring Camelot the next morning. I even wrapped the ticket in cling film so it wouldn't get damaged

"I've been out of work for the past six months so it couldn't have come at a better time."

Asked if he was still looking for work, Mr Everall said: "I'll think I'll give it a rest."

Mrs Everall said: "I thought it was a joke when he first told me. I was stunned.

"When we told our eldest two they got scared, the younger ones don't really understand what's going on.

"One wants a pink mobile phone and the other wants a season ticket for Bolton Wanderers."

The couple plan to stay in Bolton but Mrs Everall said she wanted to buy a house that was "so big you can run around screaming and no-one can hear you".

She said they went public with their win to show "that something like this can happen to poor people."

Mrs Everall said she was even more determined to pass her driving test next week so she could go shopping for a car, while her husband, a keen Elvis fan, was hoping to visit Graceland.