A group of school cleaners from Saltcoats are in the money after their syndicate won £1,000,000 in the EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker draw.

The group of 18 won on the draw on March 6 and each member of the syndicate from St Matthew's will take home £55,555.55.

Syndicate leader Claire Roberts (31) said: "The girls in the syndicate are from all walks of life and ages range from 24 to 63, so this money really will help us all in different ways."

The group has been playing the same numbers for four years and claim that, to keep things lucky, they choose a different shop each week.

Claire added: "On that particular Friday, my mum Margaret (55) went to The News Stand on Dockhead Street to put on the lines.

"She checked the results online the next day but she didn't look at the Millionaire Maker code.

"It wasn't until the Monday that she realised we had won. We took turns to call all the other girls and let them know because we were arguing over who should get to share the news - fair is fair."

Claire and Margaret said that they drank several cups of tea as they waited for The National Lottery phone lines to open on the Monday morning.

When asked what she would be spending her share on, Claire replied: "The timing could not be better. I've just booked for myself, mum and my daughter to go on an all-inclusive holiday to Spain. I can now pay that all off without worrying and look forward to a fantastic summer."

The winning ticket was bought from The News Stand, 29 Dockhead Street, Saltcoats, North Ayrshire. Their winning EuroMillions Millionaire Maker code from the draw on 6 March 2015 was CPF291509.

Ten of the 18 members of the St Matthew's Syndicate opted to take publicity, and they are Margaret Roberts (55), Gwen Golding (36), Jane McCann (56), Rosie McLeod (61), Lianne Anderson (59), Jean-Marie McCubbin (41), Claire Roberts (31), Sheena Frew (63), Ann Kerr (55) and Mary Wilkie (57).

The ladies intend to spend their winnings on a number of things including sunshine holidays, new televisions and decorating their homes.

The National Lottery changes the lives of winners like the St Matthew's Syndicate as well as helping communities across the UK - players raise, on average, over £33m every week for National Lottery-funded projects.

In the North Ayrshire area alone, there have been 1,219 individual National Lottery grants made to date, funding projects across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors.

For more information on National Lottery funding please visit www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.