A grandad-of-three is celebrating after winning close to a quarter of a million pounds on the EuroMillions.

Con Smith bought the winning ticket, a lucky dip selection, from a newsagents in Rochester.

He'd brought his father home from the hospital and had popped down to the local chippy. He went next door to buy the ticket while the food was being cooked.

The 58-year-old believes the win was one of a series of fortunate events, which started with his dad, who had been given 24 hours to live a week before, making a miraculous recovery.

He said: "It’s a good job dad’s fish was cooked from fresh as it meant I went into the shop, somewhere I’d never been before, and bought that winning ticket.

"It’s as if it was meant to be - dad coming out of hospital, me buying the ticket in a completely new shop and the fish needing to be cooked, it’s as if fate decreed the win!

"We've had so much sadness in the last 10 years, losing many people very close to us. Now we can look to a brighter future for the whole family."

Mr Smith will share the winnings with his wife Lorna, who he has been married to for 38 years.

She was the first person he told when he found out the day after the draw, and she was just as shocked as he was.

He said: "When the app let out a little beep to alert me to a win I was certainly not expecting to see a big congratulations message and confirmation of a £247,463 win.

"I had to scan the ticket about seven more times before also logging onto the website to cross reference the numbers. Each time it confirmed I'd won - it was surreal."

He ran down the road to Doremada Florists, the business he has owned with Lorna since 1992, to tell her the good news.

She told him to ring Camelot, the organisers of the lottery, but only once he'd made an urgent flower delivery.

The couple plan to use the money to help pay off a few debts, as well as helping out their two children and other family members.

Mr Smith added: We’ll probably also look at buying a new car, make a few renovations at home and maybe some new furniture. Then it’s a bit of investment into the florists.

"It’s no secret that running a small high street business isn’t easy these days and this win will give the business, and us, a nice boost."