Richard and Angela Maxwell, from Coningsby in Lincolnshire, became 10th on the National Lottery rich list after they scooped £53,193,914 on the draw on Tuesday.

The couple, both 67, so far have only modest plans for what to do with the huge windfall - with Mr Maxwell planning to retire and play bowls. 

The semi-retired consultant in the poultry industry said: 'I always keep our lottery tickets in the kitchen drawer so I took a break and went online to check the results.

'I looked first at the two Lucky Stars and noticed we had those. Then I scanned across to the first main number and immediately knew they all matched our numbers. I checked again and again, five times in total, as I couldn't believe it.'

Mr Maxwell said he was in shock when he saw only one ticket had won £53million and believed someone had scanned his ticket and put it on the website as a joke.

'It was April Fool's Day after all,' he added.

The father-of-two kept the win to himself for four more hours until wife Angela got home from helping to cook for a local OAP luncheon club.

He said: 'I knew Angela would be busy and wouldn't answer her mobile phone so I waited til she got home.

'I kept myself busy making cups of tea for the builders because I couldn't sit still but didn't say anything to anyone.'

When his wife came back carrying a basket of tea towels and asking about dinner plans, Mr Maxwell said: 'Angela, I've got something to tell you.'

His wife said: 'I didn't know what to think. Richard just went red in the face and then said "we've won £53 million".

'I just said "don't be stupid" - he's always playing jokes so I thought it was an April's Fool.

'I just didn't believe it, then he showed me the numbers on the website and I dropped the basket of tea towels on the floor. I then just sat down in the chair for about half-an-hour stunned.' 

When the couple called their two daughters, Sharon, 45, and Paula, 44, they too thought it was an April Fool's joke. 

The couple are still thinking about what to do with the huge windfall but have already decided to upgrade a planned holiday to New Zealand - by taking the whole family first-class.

Sports fan Mr Maxwell said he will now be able to retire completely to enjoy following Boston United and big sporting events, and play golf and bowls.

Mr Maxwell is also going to treat himself to a Land Rover, while his wife plans to splash out on designer handbags and shoes.

Mrs Maxwell said: 'Richard says he wants to travel round the world watching sport. I can go with him but I don't think I'll be watching any sport. It'll be retail therapy for me.

'As soon as we told the girls it started to dawn on us just how big an amount of money it is.

'It still hasn't sunk in. We don't know if we will make anyone millionaires but we will make sure our family is OK.' 

Mr Maxwell added: 'It's a life-changing amount of money - £1 million would have been amazing but £53 million enables you to do so much, not just for you, but those around you.

'Our local community is really important to us, in particular helping young people in the area. The win will enable us to spend more time getting involved, as well as give financial support.'

Mr Maxwell said he survived prostate cancer eight years ago and is now in remission

He said: 'I had three operations and it was successful in the end. I was very ill for quite a while. That's why I retired from full-time work.

He added: 'It made me realise that every day is a gift. We are not materialistic people. We don't crave things.

'We are simple people. Winning this amount of money would change anyone but we are going to try and stay grounded and live the way we've always done.' 

Mr Maxwell said his experience had inspired some of his fundraising and added that his motorcycling group has raised £50,000 for Macmillan nurses in the last three years. 

With their money they could buy 450 semi-detached houses in Lincolnshire or eight million tonnes of the county's famous sausages. 

The winning balls were 8, 20, 24, 28, 49 with lucky stars of 8 and 9.

It comes in the same week that another couple - from neighbouring North Lincolnshire - beat odds of 283 billion to one to win £1 million in the EuroMillions lottery for a second time.

Dave and Kathleen Long, from Scunthorpe, won their first £1 million in 2013 and scooped the big money prize again on Friday night.

(dailymail.co.uk)