It is game, set and match for a tennis fanatic from Hailsham who has won £150,000 on the Lotto.

Neli Ileva won a staggering seven prizes in total in the Lotto draw on Saturday July 2, including matching five numbers plus the bonus ball to win £147,516.

The 51-year-old, who is a cook at the Farmstead nursing home, had been glued to the television for the past two weeks watching Wimbledon, and was just settling back into her normal routine when she realised that she had won. Neli said, 'I first checked my numbers on Sky Text on Sunday morning before the men's finals and I thought that I must have made a mistake.
'I checked and re-checked and then sent my husband, Mihail, out to get the Sunday newspaper to check again.
'I only really started to believe that I had won when I checked my numbers online and I was in complete shock.'

The couple are originally from Bulgaria, and are now hoping to buy a house in their home town in the country to be closer to their family.

They are also planning to make their dream of going on holiday to of Bahrain come true.
Neli said, 'We are very happy with our win and are looking forward to not having to worry about money as much.
'It is so nice to think that we can treat ourselves to things that have always been a luxury in the past.

'We're already planning to visit Bulgaria for Christmas this year. It will be great to see our family and friends again and to be able to take back lots of gifts for all the children.'

Neli bought the winning ticket from the Co-op in Hailsham, and the couple have the different number permutations that Neli uses to play Lotto to thank for her lucky seven wins.

In total, Neli won two lots of £10, two lots of £88 for matching four numbers and £2,329 for matching five. Her biggest single win was £147,516 which came from matching five main numbers plus the bonus ball, making the grand total of her good fortune an incredible £150,041.
The lucky winning Lotto numbers were eight, 25,33,35,38,40 and bonus number seven.