TWO neighbours from Blackburn were ‘ecstatic’ after scooping a combined total of nearly £350,000 in the People’s Postcode Lottery Postcode Millions draw.

Neighbours Sarah Slater, 44, and Stephen Mason, 49, who live in the Fernhurst area of the town, both won just over £177,000 each, in the draw which saw £3million split between 429 people who live in the ‘BB2 4’ postcode.

As well as paying off her mortgage, Miss Slater said she was going to use part of the money to marry partner Phil Critchley, 59, in Las Vegas.

Mr Mason and his long-term partner Michelle Hall, 42, said they will also pay off their mortgage, as well as buying a new motor home.

Miss Slater, who is an information governance manager at Blackburn with Darwen Council, also said she would use the money to benefit her family.

She said: “Things like this just don’t happen in Blackburn. When BB2 4UN was announced we burst out crying. It just doesn’t feel real. This is a life-changing amount of money for me and my partner Phil.

“We have always wanted to go to Las Vegas and now we can. We might get married while we’re there. We can go to the Little White Wedding Chapel and Phil can have Elvis as his best man. I might even be dressed as Dolly Parton.”

Father-of-two Mr Hall owns First Choice Fitted Bedrooms in Darwen and cancelled a camping trip to be at the Postcode Millions event.

He said: “As a family we love going camping and we’ve been doing it for 15 years.

“We were meant to be in Cumbria this Bank Holiday Weekend with our friends and their families, but winning this amount of money more than makes up for missing out.

“We said if we won anything big we would buy everyone a camper van and I’ve already started receiving text messages so I think I’ll have to turn my phone off.

“I can’t believe that we’ll finally be able to buy a motorhome and our dream is to travel around Europe with the kids.

“We also want to pay off the mortgage and we’ll be able to pay for our youngest son Jake to attend a good school in Blackburn.

“Our other son Lukas is heading to university soon, so we’ll be able to cover the fees, which is a big help.”

Meanwhile John Rutherford, who won £6,088, missed his own stag do to attend the ceremony. He was due to marry the love of his life Vicky Holding yesterday.

Mr Rutherford said: “We knew it was going to be a weekend like no other when we got the golden envelope through in the post.

“I can’t believe I’ve just won over £6,000 and I’m getting to marry the love of my life tomorrow.

“I’m going home tonight to book a honeymoon for us.

“I’ll tell Vicky where we’re going when we get to the airport.

“I’d been joking I was taking her to Scarborough for the day but I think she’ll know that not happening now.”

The ‘BB2 4’ postcode covers the Beardwood, Balderstone, Cherry Tree, Feniscowles, Fernhurst, Mellor, Mellor Brook, Mill Hill, Pleasington, Witton, Holly Tree and Griffin areas of Blackburn.

People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador, Judie McCourt, congratulated all the winners in Blackburn.

The People’s Postcode Lottery has raised over £113.8million to date for charities and good causes across Great Britain and internationally.