Two lottery winning holidaymakers who bought their winning ticket while in St Ives almost missed out on the jackpot after throwing it away.

Dione and Richard Buss can now swap sandcastles for real castles if they wish, after scooping £1,888,630 with their lucky Cornish ticket.

Dione, 47, and Richard, 48, won the Lotto draw on Saturday, September 28 having bought the ticket at St Ives’s Tesco store while on their annual five-day holiday, although they didn't actually win until they returned to their home in Stogursey, near Bridgwater.

In what was almost a disastrous twist of fate, however, Dione and Richard came agonisingly close to missing out on their life changing win after they got rid of their winning ticket thinking that it was for a previous draw.

A relieved Dione said: “Richard had put the ticket out for the recycling and to remind me to buy the next one. Fortunately I double checked it and realised we still had another draw to go.

“We actually found out we’d won on Sunday night but it was really late and we couldn’t speak to anyone from Camelot until 9am on the Monday. I didn’t sleep a wink that night, I didn’t even try – I watched the TV and did the ironing instead.”

Dione works for Bristol City Council and Richard took voluntary redundancy before setting up his own business renovating and restoring properties.

Following their win the couple are planning to buy their dream home, climb the Great Wall of China and devote their time to fundraising for a number of charitable causes close to their hearts.

Dione, who has MS, hopes to help raise money for the Brahms Unit at Frenchay Hospital where she receives treatment, for the Children’s Heart Unit at the Bristol Royal Infirmary where her young nephew was fitted for a pacemaker and for cancer charities who helped her father in his recent battle with prostate cancer.

Dione and Richard’s winning Lotto numbers were 10, 12, 14, 25, 46 and 48.