A married couple said winning £1 million in the National Lottery “changed our life” and allowed them to build a home and restaurant on St Lucia.

Bill, 64, and Cath Mullarkey, 63, came home from a holiday in St Lucia to learn they had won the National Lottery in 2017 and decided to pursue their dream of moving from Coventry to the Caribbean island.

Mr Mullarkey told the PA news agency: “We feel so blessed. It has changed our life and the lives of other people that we’ve helped as well.”

The couple played the National Lottery “many, many times” and dreamed of owning a restaurant on St Lucia, where they first met and holidayed frequently, after returning to the UK and working in corporate catering.

Returning from a trip in 2017, the couple were shocked to receive a message telling them that they had won £1 million in the National Lottery.

“I thought it must be something like, ‘this could be you if you play tonight’, but no, the lady said, ‘congratulations, you’re the proud winner of the EuroMillions, £1 million’ and that was it,” Mr Mullarkey said.

“It was life-changing, but it took time to sink in. Even for a day or two, it was surreal. I’m thinking maybe we’ll get a call back saying it’s a mistake, but no.

“When you see it’s all signed, sealed, delivered and then that’s reality when you see your bank account with zeros, wow.”

“We always thought of having our own place and ideally open our own little restaurant. We never thought it would happen but we dreamed and then that was the priority, that and help family members.

“We had got to that age in life where we thought it’d never be possible or we would be fortunate enough to think, ‘where do we really want to settle down’, and for me, it was a no brainer.”

The couple had bought a plot of land a few minutes from the beach before winning the EuroMillions and, now they they were £1 million richer, they knew this was their chance.

They set to work building their house with mountain views, a swimming pool and a restaurant on the ground floor called Brigands Hideaway, which serves St Lucian food and opened last November.

“It’s doing quite well, and it’s nice working for ourselves, and Cath is very good with the local food, and it’s going down well with both locals and tourists,” Mr Mullarkey said.

“There is so much fresh produce here and we get on well with the local suppliers and farmers, and Cath’s brothers are fishermen so we get fresh fish.”

Mr Mullarkey said the couple do miss “beautiful” Coventry but that their lives have been changed for the better by winning the National Lottery.

“We were happy before, but we are even happier now, knowing that we have this. I’m grateful every day of my life and so is Cath, for the change that it’s managed to bring us.

“What we’re doing now is for ourselves and living our dream, doing our thing, which we dreamt of, but never thought would be possible, so it has changed our life for the better.”