A SYNDICATE of workers at a building contractors firm in Poole have been popping the champagne after a Lotto windfall.

The lucky nine, who work at Hamworthy building firm Stepnell Ltd, have shared a win of £70,191 after matching five numbers and the bonus ball in the Lotto draw on April 7.

The syndicate, who call themselves the ‘Lotter Loonies’, are made up of office staff at the firm and include a receptionist, contractors and quantity surveyors.

They range from those with young families to employees nearing retirement and all live in Dorset.

The group have been playing as a syndicate for 14 years and play five lines a week with the same numbers, which were chosen at random when they first started playing.

Syndicate leader Derek Middleton, 60, who is a director at Stepnell, said: “We play online every week and I often put on up to five weeks at a time.

“When I received a message alert to say we had won £70,191 at the weekend, I had to ask Hazel, my wife, to check it as I literally couldn’t believe my eyes.”

Derek waited until Monday morning to tell the rest of the group. He said: “I wanted to tell everyone, personally, face to face. It was really exciting to be able to give everyone such good news.

“We work in a tough industry and to be able to tell our staff they had won the money was a great feeling.”

The group all have different plans for their share of the prize from holidays to home improvements or family responsibilities and retirement savings.

Derek, who lives in Weymouth and has grown-up children, said: “It’s a nice amount of money to win. It will really make a difference to every one of us in the syndicate. I’ll probably spend mine on improvements to our bungalow, but it may also free up some money for a nice holiday too.”

The winning numbers in the Lotto draw on April 7 were 12, 16, 23, 25, 31, 42 and the bonus ball was 18.