An army veteran said he was stunned to win £500,000 on the Postcode Lottery - because he had forgotten he still played it.

Rick Robinson, from Street in Somerset, said he thought the call telling him he had won was a joke until he later discovered he had won £250,000 on each of his two tickets.

Robinson, 58, said he "totally forgot" he was still playing the competition and only believed it when he checked his bank account for the direct debit.

"I thought it was a joke initially when I got a call from someone claiming to be from Postcode Lottery and they said, 'You've won a prize'. I thought, 'No, I haven't'," Robinson, one of eight winners in Street, said.

In total, a group of neighbours in the Somerset village have won £2.25 million between them.

"I can't even comprehend how much that is. It's insane, an absolutely incredible amount of money," Robinson said.

He joined the Army in 1985, serving with the 19th Regiment Royal Artillery and spending much of his service based in Dortmund, Germany.

Robinson said his plan is to pay off his mortgage and then to restore "Myrtle the Turtle", a 1980s caravan, with his wife Sharon.

The lottery win came just weeks after their 170-year-old terraced home was hit by devastating flooding.

The couple have since spent six weeks trying to dry out their home, with dehumidifiers and fans running constantly, and faced a major repair bill.

Just down the street from the Robinsons, Tel Hayes, 77, and his wife Morveen 81, are celebrating winning £250,000.

The couple, who recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, are heading on a cruise to the Norwegian fjords in October.

Hayes said: "It's just the thought of not having to consider about money again, you know, things like the plumber who's coming over tomorrow.

"But after the plumber's been, we'll go out and buy Mo a few dresses for the cruise."

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