My neighbours scooped £184m in biggest Euromillions jackpot – I hope they use some of the cash to fix our broken fence
EUROMILLIONS winners Jess and Joe Thwaite are ready to splash the cash - on a new fence for their neighbour.
The mega rich couple, who scooped £184million on the lotto, vowed to fix a broken fence that separates their property and that of neighbour Faith Cox.
And retired Mrs Cox, 74, hopes the lucky pair are true to their word.
She said: “I was blown away when I heard they’d won the lottery, I just hope they don’t move away… they promised to fix the fence.
“It’s good to have nice neighbours and they are a lovely family, the fence has been in a state for years and I can’t afford to have it mended myself.
“I remember speaking with Joe and he said they planned to put a fence in between our properties. It would mean I can take the horrid temporary fence down.
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“They have three ponies, sheep, chickens and two dogs and I have dogs as well. so it made sense.”
The Thwaites bought their Grade II listed £650,000 home in the tiny hamlet of Corse in Gloucestershire earlier this year.
The horse mad family snapped up the four bed property, set in four acres of land, so their daughters could have their own paddock to practice show jumping.
Widower Mrs Cox said hearing the laughter of the couple’s two young children was a “tonic” and she’ll be sad if they don’t come back after their big win.
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“Since they won the lottery all their animals have gone and no one is around, I don’t even know if Joe and Jess will ever be back,” she said.
“It makes me sad, they were the perfect neighbours. I’ve lived here 40 years and it was nice to have a family living next door.”
Mrs Cox, a former safety officer at Cheltenham Racecourse, said she first met the Thwaites when one of their chickens escaped and came through the broken fence.
“I joked I was having their chicken for dinner. Jess is lovely, really bubbly, they seem like a great couple and it’s amazing they have won the lottery.
“They own the fields at the back so I see the girls out on their ponies, sometimes riding bareback. They clearly love their horses and are off to horse shows most weekends.”
During their lotto press conference the Thwaites said they’d love to upgrade a battered old horsebox, which still sits in their drive.
Joe, 49, and wife Jess, 44, are Britain’s biggest EuroMillions winners having scooped the £184million jackpot with a Lucky Dip ticket.
Hubby Joe bought the winning ticket online on Tuesday May 10 and the next morning received an email with good news about their ticket.
'MAKE BELIEVE'
The 49-year-old said he initially kept the stunning win to himself — because he didn’t want to disturb his sleeping missus.
He said: “I looked at the amount and at first thought it was thousands. I was excited because that would be life changing and pay the mortgage.
“I started counting the digits and at that point it was surreal and amazing. I just sat there.
“I didn’t want to wake Jess up, her alarm wasn’t due to go off so I thought I’d let her sleep. It was make believe at that point.”
Joe started browsing million pound mansions on property website Rightmove before informing his wife 45 minutes later.
Amazingly the couple made a coffee and carried on with their morning as usual before giving lottery operator Camelot a call at 8am.
Joe has been married to Jess for 11 years and have two primary school-age kids.
Mr Thwaite has two children at university from his previous marriage with midwife Sara Frost, 50.
Mrs Thwaite runs a hairdressing salon with her sister while husband Mr Thwaite is a communication sales engineer.
I had to keep going over all our information for security checks. The woman on the other end of the phone said: 'You definitely have won'.
Joe Thwaite
Joe stressed there was no bad blood with his ex-wife and noted she was "delighted" what the win will mean for their kids going forward.
The Thwaites met while working for Midland Communications at their old offices in Upton upon Severn, Worcs.
Jess helps her sister Becky Robinson, 38, run the Blow hair salon in Tewkesbury.
The couple went public on Wednesday and on Thursday the jubilant couple cracked open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate.
The Gloucestershire-based couple received their cheque from TV presenter Dermot O’Leary.
So far they say they have only splashed out on a wardrobe, and a chest of drawers — and a simple celebration dinner of £16.95 steak and chips.
Speaking of the Miller & Carter dinner they chowed down on a Gloucestershire trading estate, a family source said the winners "were in such a celebratory mood they left a sizeable tip".
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They raised a glass in memory of Jess’s dad Tony Shearing, who died in 2015, and had always said: “Imagine if you won the Lottery.”
They could have bought 10,870,000 plates of rump steak with their record-breaking win.
