A CASH-strapped plasterer who has won £2.3million on the National Lottery said: ‘I can’t believe this is happening to me!’. Anthony Young, 33, from Padiham, was weeks away from losing his stop-gap factory job and feared for his financial future.

But now he is planning to jet off around the world as soon as next week, buy his mum a bungalow, take driving lessons and set up his own plastering firm.

The Clarets fan, who has not been able to afford to go on the Turf, also wants to treat himself to an executive box for next season.

Anthony said he was single after having his heart broken, but added: “I’m sure someone special is looking for me now.”

He is a plasterer by trade, but had not been able to find a job in that line of work since last October.

Anthony had been earning £210 after tax for his job, checking car parts at Futaba Tenneco, Burnley.

But on Monday morning he quit, saying ‘give my job to somebody else who needs it’.

Anthony bought his winning lucky-dip ticket just hours before Saturday’s draw, and nearly didn’t bother buying one at all.

He said: “I still can’t believe it is happening.

“I checked the results on Sunday afternoon when I was feeling a bit rough.

"I had been to a party the night before. After seeing them on TV I ran to the shop to get a paper and a print-out of the results, and then checked the internet.

"I had to check four times.

“As it was late on Sunday evening, the lottery telephone line was closed so I had to keep my ticket safe.

“I went to the pub with mates and had it in my pocket the whole time before hiding it under my carpet when I went to bed.

"My mate came to collect me at 6.30am on Monday to take me to work and I told him I wouldn't be coming in any more and to give my job to somebody else who needs it.

"My friends are shocked but everyone is pleased for me. They all say I have deserved it but I don't know why.”

The ticket had been purchased from the Premier store, Hargrove Avenue, Padiham, on Saturday afternoon.

Anthony, a former Ivy Bank High School pupil who lives in a rented two-up two-down terrace with brother Jason, 39, plays three tickets every week: one with the same numbers and two lucky dips.

But on Saturday he almost didn’t bother: “I asked a friend if the shop down the road did the lottery and they said they didn’t think so.

“I went to check, but I said if it didn’t I wasn’t going into Padiham for it so I wouldn’t have got a ticket.”

Anthony trained as a plasterer when he spent five years living in Portsmouth in his early 20s, and until last October was working on the Burnley’s Building Schools for the Future scheme.

But when that scheme was completed he was left out of work and took a temporary contract at Futabo that was due to end in June, if not earlier.

He said: “I was just getting by each week, but there was nothing once I had paid the bills.

“I was worrying about what was going to happen.”

Now he is making big plans. “I am going to make sure the family are looked after.

"We have struggled all our lives. We’ve worked hard for nothing for all these years basically.

“I always said if it I came into anything I would help my mum out, so I will make sure she has a house, and I will help my dad too.

"He wants to move back to his roots in Scotland.”

Anthony also has two other brothers and a sister who have moved away from the area with their jobs.

He has already shelled out on some new clothes and plans to go travelling now, having only been abroad once in his life before, to a friend’s wedding in Cuba last year.

“We went to Cuba but my mate couldn’t afford to get married there in the end.

“So I’ve told him we’re going back and I’m going to sort it for them. He was delighted once he stopped crying.

“From there I am going to go travelling for six months to a year and have a think about what to do.

“But when I get back I will set up my own plastering business.”

Anthony is also going to learn to drive for the first time.

He said he would look at buying a ‘little run-around’ for his first car, ‘something like an Audi A3’.

When he gets back he will look for a new house, but plans to stay fairly local to Padiham, although he admitted to wanting to get slightly away from the area to ‘stop being pestered’.

On the Clarets he said: “I used to take my nephew and he loves going, but I haven’t been able to afford it.

Now I can take him all the time next season. I’m looking to get an executive box. I’m seeing the club about it today.”

Asked if he was looking for someone special, he said: “I will have to be wary of course.

“I haven’t really had a proper relationship since Portsmouth.

"It will be a nice surprise for her when she sees that I’ve won the lottery.”

The shop that Anthony bought his winning ticket from has been selling lottery tickets for less than a year, but had already had someone win a £70,000 prize before this weekend.

Lisa McNally, store manager, said: “It does seem to be something of a lucky shop.

"We’re delighted for Anthony and it is great that he has won.”