A retired couple who scooped £1.2 million on the National Lottery are to splash out - on a new lawnmower.

Railston and Violet Watkins watched last Wednesday's jackpot draw live on television and were stunned to see all six of their numbers come up.

The former plumber and his wife, who teaches line-dancing, will share their huge win with their four children and 10 grandchildren, who live within four miles of their semi-detached house overlooking the North Sea in Whitburn, South Tyneside.

Mr Watkins, who believes his first name is unique, is a keen allotment gardener and was dismayed on the morning of the lottery win to find his old mower had broken.

At a news conference today in South Shields, he said: "The lady from Camelot asked 'What's the first thing you want to buy' and I said a lawnmower."

Watching their numbers - which they have played since the Lottery began - be drawn out live left the couple thinking they were dreaming.

Mr Watkins, who retired early following a heart bypass operation in 2000, said: "You more or less try to convince yourself it is right.

"You pinch yourself and think 'I'm dreaming'.

"It doesn't sink in straight away. It's not a feeling I can explain, it's like a numbness."

The couple, who have been married for 45 years, will buy their council house and have no intention of moving from the area.

They will also share the jackpot with their children David, 43, Alison, 41, Gary, 37, and Kay, 31.

Mr Watkins, 68, said: "It's a feeling every parent should get to feel - the first thing that comes into your mind is that you can do everything for your family."

Mrs Watkins, 65, said: "On the night that we found out, all I could think about was how we could help out the children."

The winning numbers were 10, 14, 21, 25, 39 and 45.