A nurse who has worked throughout the Covid-19 pandemic plans to buy a home on a Caribbean island after winning £10,000 per month for a year on the National Lottery.

Teresa Robinson, 65, of Woodbridge in Suffolk, will retire in June after 35 years in nursing.

She and her partner, self-employed builder Charlie Hobson, 62, hope the win will allow them to spend more time on the island of Nevis, where Mr Hobson’s family are from.

Ms Robinson bought her Lucky Dip ticket at Hollesley Post Office and matched the five main numbers in the Set For Life draw on April 15.

She said: “I’ve nursed all over the world in all sorts of conditions but never have I been tested as much as in the last 12 months, at times it’s been truly horrendous.

“Having said that, I’m proud to have served my community throughout the pandemic and feel that I have earned my retirement and the lazy days we will spend on Nevis, once it’s safe to travel.

“Charlie’s family is from Nevis so we’ve been there many times but obviously with my nursing and his work we could never stay long enough.

“Now we are hatching a plan to buy a home there so we can spend months at a time on the island, enjoying everything it has to offer and catching up with family.”

Ms Robinson checked her ticket while enjoying a cup of tea with Mr Hobson the morning after the draw.

“We buy our own tickets but we always share the winnings, so when I scanned my ticket and heard the winning sound I expected to see enough for a little treat for our supper, not for a second was I expecting £10,000 a month for the year,” she said.

“I was bouncing off the walls but Charlie, calm as you like, looked at it and simply said, ‘I knew we’d win it one day’, gave me a kiss and went outside to carry on building our extension!”

Ms Robinson called her two daughters to share the news then called Camelot to confirm the win.

She said: “I was on duty all weekend so our celebrations on Friday were a little muted, with a cup of coffee replacing the Champagne we should have been drinking to toast the win.

“And my first purchase as a National Lottery winner wasn’t too frivolous either, a packet of wooden pegs from the village shop!”

Ms Robinson and Mr Hobson, who is known as Champagne Charlie due to his love of the tipple, have been together for four years.

“We feel so blessed to be together and already had so many exciting plans, even before this amazing win,” said Ms Robinson.

“Last year we found a renovation project and, despite everything, decided to go for it and build our dream home together.

“It’s been pretty full on at times but we wanted to be finished before we started drawing pensions, when we thought we’d need to be a bit more careful with the pennies.

“Turns out, thanks to that lucky win, we may not need to be quite as careful and in addition to this project, we can start one on Nevis too!”