The Herefordshire people who won millions on the National Lottery

But for three lucky Herefordshire lottery winners, the dream would become a reality when they scooped big prizes.

A complete change of scene was on the cards for Kington lottery winner Sue Herdman when her numbers netted her a £1,182,714 win on the National Lottery in 2010.

Now 52, Ms Herdman gave up her job, sold her Eardisley salon, and spent a year enjoying her free time before moving to north Yorkshire with her partner, Andrew Hornshaw and starting life as a pig farmer.

She later wrote a book about her life in the three years leading up to the lottery and her spiritual encounters in that time called 'Luck? Or Divine Intervention? Life is a lottery'.

Ms Herdman hit the headlines again during coronavirus, hitting out at 'selfish stockpilers' as she and her family hand picked potatoes from their farm and delivered them to self-isolating families.

Speaking in March last year, she said she used to live "month-to-month" while running her hair salon, and winning the lottery was "a relief".

She said: "To suddenly win, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I could actually buy myself some time, which was priceless."

She added: "It's lovely that I can now make people smile by doing this."

A former Cargill worker was next to win big in Herefordshire, booking himself a one-way ticket around the world after scooping £1million on the Euromillions raffle.

Matt Myles said he rarely plays the national lottery or Euromillions and picked up his ticket on the “off-chance” from Hereford’s Morrisons store in 2014.

The then-27-year-old could not have known how his life would be changed forever just hours later.

Mr Myles left his job and went on a globe-trotting adventure around the world after winning, but would later decide to invest his money, buying into luxury car franchise AMC Prestige Cars Ltd, which deals with car brands such as Ferrari, McLaren and Bugatti.

Speaking exclusively to the Hereford Times in 2014, Matt recalled the moment he discovered he had the winning raffle number.

“It was at 2am and I was working nights and had to stay up to get in ‘night mode’. I realised I hadn’t checked to see whether I had any numbers but didn’t think I’d win. I realised I hadn’t won the main game but didn’t think about checking the raffle. But then I saw the first few digits and realised what had happened,” he said.

Matt said the first person he called was a friend that he knew would be awake and – after they verified it for him – couldn’t help “screaming” down the phone.

“Then we had a family breakfast. I’m a little bit stupid with money so I had to be grounded quite quickly and my dad is the right person to do that,” he said.

In March 2019, Herefordshire hit the headlines around the world as metal factory worker Ade Goodchild scooped the £71million Euromillions jackpot.

The win launched the former Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School pupil into the spotlight on March 20 2019.

The Abbey Hotel in Great Malvern was packed with journalists from across the country as Ade was revealed as the 15th-biggest winner in Britain at a press conference.

Speaking on the day, he said he had no intention of returning to his job at Special Metals Wiggin in Hereford, where he had worked for 24 years, with his sights instead set on enjoying the finer things in life.

"The main thing I want to do with my win is to help my family," Ade, who is originally from South Wales, said.

"The first thing I'm going to do is to take my parents property shopping. They can spend my inheritance now!"

He also announced his plans for his own future, which included travelling, a holiday home on the Algarve, and a big new home in Britain, with plenty of space for his two labradoodles, a cook, and a driver.

But since then, while Ade shied away from publicity in the months following the win, fake accounts popped up in his name on social media.

One tweet, purporting to be from the lottery winner, was shared some 45,000 times, and read: "I never ever thought I would have this kind of money in my life, but God works in mysterious ways. But who's to say other people can't share my blessings.

"Therefore I am running a giveaway. I will choose 10 people to give £1million to. Simply retweet and follow to enter. GL!"

In an interview with The Sun in October, seven months after his big win, Ade advised the many who covet his good fortune to look at their own lives, and find joy in the relationships they have.

Asked if he regretted going public, he said he preferred to melt into the background and live his life privately, but chose to waive his anonymity as a lottery winner as he knew he would be outed eventually.

He said he still buys lottery tickets each week, while splashing some of his cash on a new home, a silver Range Rover, and spending a few nights out in UK capital cities.