Lotto win woman's gift 'stingy'

A Shropshire woman whose sister-in-law won £9.3 million on the Lottery has branded a £1,000 gift as "stingy".

Len and May Powell, who live in Telford, were told to expect a cheque in the post after Mr Powell's sister, Irene Jones, won the jackpot.

Mrs Jones and her husband Ron had pledged that they would "look after" their close relatives when they scooped the fortune in October.

Mrs Jones told a champagne press conference: "We're going to ensure that all our loved ones are taken care of."

Mr and Mrs Powell, of Doddington, Hollinswood, were on holiday when an envelope containing a cheque arrived.

But when their son Mark, 37, opened it, expecting at least £1 million he found a cheque for £1,000 - 0.010638 per cent of the jackpot.

With it was a handwritten note from Mrs Jones saying: "Hope it will help you out with the struggle with money."

The note signed off with: "Treat yourselves...Love Irene."

Mark framed it with a copy of the cheque and put it on his parents' mantlepiece.

Mrs Powell said the gift was "stingy" and added: "I'm not surprised, Irene and Ron always watched the pennies.

"Our friends said 'is that all they've given you?', bearing in mind they'll never be able to spend even the interest. But we've decided to see it as a bonus and have sent Irene a thank you letter."

She and her 72-year-old husband plan to put the £1,000 towards a walk-in shower.

Mr and Mrs Jones have stayed in their home town of Bilston, in the West Midlands, although they have moved from their council house to a £300,000 bungalow.

Mrs Jones said: "I'm not going to say anything about money because it always stirs things up."

By Deborah Collins