EuroMillions winner spent £108m fortune renovating estate

Well, one lucky winner has revealed exactly what he put his winning fortune towards as he works hard to renovate his 'dream estate'.

In 2014, Neil Trotter used part of his £108 million jackpot winnings to purchase a 500-acre estate which he is now renovating.

The EuroMillions jackpot winner brought the item which was “top of his wish list” for him and his partner Nicky Ottaway, 42.

Set in southern England, the Grade II-listed Manor House has its own lake and is worlds apart from the winner's former three-bedroom semi.

Now, Neil has at least six lakes and woodland ponds.

EuroMillions jackpot winner reveals how he's spending his winners

The house was in need of restoration, and the surrounding land needed to be spruced up. 

During the process, the couple had to move out at various points, including when the whole west wing flooded during their first winter.

Speaking of their project, Neil said: "At times it seemed like I had bitten off more than I could chew! I always dreamt of having my own lake but owning so much land has been a huge challenge and responsibility." 

The former car mechanic and vehicle sprayer added: "I have learnt so much about how to manage woods and to reverse the effects of intensive farming.

“It has been a challenging nine years but I am immensely proud of what we have achieved and I’m never bored!”

One of Euromillions winner's proudest achievements includes creating an arboretum which displays an example of almost every tree in the British Isles.

“It’s a pat on the back after all the hard work to see the wildlife returning to the estate,” he said.

“We planted miles of native hedgerows to provide food for the birds in winter, and by clearing what were muddy puddles in the woods and transforming them into wildlife oases we’ve seen the mandarin duck population boom, herons now nest here, we’ve got kestrels, two species of deer and smaller mammals such as stoats.”

He said that machinery has been key to the restoration, saying that he went from being a “scruffy mechanic who played about with cars” to being able to “continue to play about with machinery but now my toys are a bit bigger”, thanks to the National Lottery win.

“I’ve got tractors, diggers, dumper trucks, a road sweeper – in fact anything that requires an engine, I’ve probably got one somewhere on the property,” he added.

Mr Trotter has no plans to stop perfecting his estate, adding that it will “keep evolving”.

“I may be a millionaire but there is no sitting in armchairs with a pipe and slippers for me!” he said.

“While sitting on a digger in driving rain might not be everyone’s ‘when I win the lottery’ dream, it’s exactly as I’d hoped it would be and more.”