A trainee gas engineer who won £7.5million in the lottery has revealed he spent the next day unblocking drains in the freezing cold.
James Clarkson, 20, was in disbelief when he received a message from the National Lottery on January 5 alerting him to the staggering feat.
The lucky Carlisle local, who works with his parents Stephen and Becky, said he immediately woke up his girlfriend to tell her the news but she didn’t believe a word.
Mr Clarkson told of how he ended up sitting on the edge of his parent’s bed while he waited for the National Lottery line to open at 9am.
The good news was soon confirmed with a prize amount of £7,533,329 ready to enter his bank account.
He says he has already started to enjoy his win, booking a luxury holiday and designer treats – but that his dad won’t let him stop working despite it.
Mr Clarkson had already received a National Lottery ‘news about your ticket’ email over Christmas when he bagged £120 in the special Lotto Christmas Day draw.
With some of his winnings he decided to buy five more Lotto lines for the first draw of the new year – two Lucky Dip lines and three lines of randomly selected numbers. It was one his own randomly selected lines that delivered the life-changing jackpot.
The lucky Carlisle local, who works with his parents Stephen and Becky, said he immediately woke up his girlfriend to tell her the news but she didn’t believe a word
A trainee gas engineer who won £7.5million in the lottery has revealed how he spent the next day unblocking drains in the freezing cold
20-year-old James Clarkson celebrates winning £7,533,329 on the National Lottery with his parents, grandparents and family members at Dalston Hall near Carlisle
Recalling the eventful Saturday morning, the day after the draw, Mr Clarkson said: ‘I was at my girlfriend’s house and got up early to check on the snowfall when I saw a message saying I’d won on the National Lottery app.
‘I opened it straight away but couldn’t see anything to begin with; then I scrolled down and saw I’d matched all six main Lotto numbers to hit the jackpot and that my prize amount was £7,533,329! I just didn’t believe it! I thought I was dreaming!
‘It was only 7.30am so everyone was asleep. I woke up my girlfriend and showed her my ticket on the phone. She took a sleepy glance and said “no, you haven’t won”, turned over and went back to sleep! I wasn’t so sure, so called my dad as I knew he would be awake. He calmly told me to come home and we’d have a look.
‘We called dead on nine and chatted through the ticket details and who I was. They eventually confirmed mine was the winning ticket. I think I just started laughing. I thought, “this is mad!”
‘I spent the rest of the day visiting my family and girlfriend who all live close by, all of us talking about the win. I have a big family and we are all close. News spread fast and we all ended up celebrating later at my Grandma’s and Grandad’s with a roast beef dinner and Champagne!’
But it was back to reality on Monday morning as James had work commitments to fulfil alongside his dad, Stephen, 47, carrying out property maintenance.
Mr Clarkson explained: ‘I was out in the cold fixing blocked drains the day after I found out I had won. It was a bit grim but that’s reality.
‘I’m not going to stop working, I’m too young. I want to qualify as a heating engineer and then go from there. I need to have a purpose in life, plus Dad wouldn’t let me not work anyway! He says there are plenty of millionaires out there that still work and you need a reason to get up each day.’
Mr Clarkson explained: ‘I need to have a purpose in life, plus Dad wouldn’t let me not work anyway! He says there are plenty of millionaires out there that still work and you need a reason to get up each day’
It comes as the young millionaire had left school during the Covid pandemic and went on to start an apprenticeship in bricklaying which he stuck with until a year ago when he started working for his dad.
He said: ‘Bricklaying is a hard job and is really cold most of the time too. Now, working with dad, the van isn’t much warmer but there is more variety, and I am getting to work towards my gas engineer certificate.
‘I know people might think I’m mad to still work but I want to and, of course, there’ll be some nice holidays in-between.’
Mr Clarkson has already booked an all-inclusive luxury break to Cape Verde and has treated himself to a few designer items, including a Gucci bag for his girlfriend and two new jackets for himself.
The engineer hopes his next purchase is going to be a new car, preferably an Audi.
He said, ‘I’m not really a fan of shopping, it’s not my idea of fun but a new car, that would be massive! If you drive a cold work van all day, going from job to job, you’d understand. The comfort, the steering, the heated seats. I realise how jammy that sounds. Not many people my age can afford the car insurance let alone a car like that to drive.’
He is also a massive Manchester City fan and says he goes to games whenever he can get a ticket. The young tradesman described how he had supported the club all his life, after his dad took him to his first match when he was just three years old. He said he hoped he would be able to see many more matches and even get a season ticket for him and his family.
Mr Clarkson added he has a large extended family and was working out how he could help them. Top of the list was paying off his parents’ mortgage.
The young millionaire had left school during the Covid pandemic and went on to start an apprenticeship in bricklaying which he stuck with until a year ago when he started working for his dad
There have been further celebrations since the news first broke, with several generations of the family gathering in one of the local pubs over the weekend
He said: ‘I’ve been thinking about it a lot, it’s what I want to do. I told them last night and they seemed really overwhelmed. We are close and they have always been there for me. This win isn’t just for me, I want to make sure we all benefit.’
There have been further celebrations since the news first broke, with several generations of the family gathering in one of the local pubs over the weekend.
‘Everyone was there, Grandad, Dad, my brother, cousin, even my Mum came along, and she doesn’t even drink. It was great – we all enjoyed the craic,’ Mr Clarkson said.
He had played Lotto on the National Lottery app with winning numbers on Saturday 4 January, 2025 which were 16, 19, 22, 24, 27 and 35.
