THE Suffolk couple who hit the �148million EuroMillions jackpot have told of the moment when they realised they owned the only winning ticket.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Haverhill, spoke about the life-changing windfall for the first time at a press conference yesterday morning.

Mr Bayford, 41, said he was watching the film The Bank Job before he switched channels to hear on the news that one ticket had scooped nearly �150m.

He decided to check the numbers against those on his ticket just before going to bed, while his wife was trying to settle their four-year-old son back to sleep.

He recalled: “Gradually the numbers seemed to match-up with those on my ticket and I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I rushed back and turned on the main light at which point Gillian went ballistic!”

Mrs Bayford, 40, chipped in: “I was like, turn the light off – you are going to wake him (our son) up. I’ll have a look at the ticket in a minute.

“But once my boy had stopped crying, I looked at Adrian and he looked really pale, so I thought, maybe he is telling the truth!”

According to Mrs Bayford, the couple had only bought the ticket because they “needed the money”. She said: “Everyone is struggling with the recession, and this month has been extremely tight for us. I hadn’t been getting as many night shifts at the hospital, and to be honest, I was a bit short.”

However, she admitted the amount of money they now had at their disposal was hard to comprehend, adding: “I’m so used to going to the bank, taking some money out to buy things, seeing the balance go down and counting the days until pay day.

“Now, with this amount of money, if you buy something, it isn’t even going to make a dent in it.”

She intends to quit her job as a health care worker on a children’s ward at Addenbrookes Hospital, so she can spend more time with her family.

Mr Bayford on the other hand, who co-owns the Suffolk Music Centre in Haverhill – a business he started 17 years ago as a market trader – intends to keep the shop going.

So far, there have been no signs of extravagance. The only requests from their two children have been for a takeaway pizza for tea, and a ‘Dalek’.

Mrs Bayford would like to fulfil a dream of owning an Audi Q7 car, and a family visit to Disney World is also on the cards.

Despite being open about their win, the Bayfords have every intention of staying in their home town of Haverhill. Mrs Bayford concluded: “It would be an awful lot of money for one person to win if they were a selfish type but because it’s such a large amount, we intend to share it with friends and family who have helped us in the past - and with several charities.”