Lottery winner who won £108m 'immensely proud' after renovating 500-acre dream estate
A man who won £108m on the EuroMillions lottery has described how he bought his dream - a 500-acre estate with a manor house and lakes.
Neil Trotter, 50, a former mechanic and car sprayer, said he's "immensely proud" after spending years doing up the property and land after moving there in 2014.
A jet-set lifestyle of five-star hotels and expensive restaurants wasn't on the agenda - instead Mr Trotter has been busy digging, chopping and renovating.
"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," he said.
His partner Nicky Ottaway, 42, tried to initially talk him out of buying the place - and it hasn't been without its trials such as a flooded house during the first winter.
"The project was too big, the woodlands were in a poor state, there were so many dead trees everywhere and the house was barely liveable, despite its size," said Ms Ottaway.
There are at least six ponds and lakes that have needed dredging and tonnes of dead trees have needed shifting from the woodlands.
But the hard work has been worth it, said Mr Trotter, with one of his proudest achievements an arboretum featuring almost every type of tree in Britain.
He said the land is now an "oasis" for wildlife including mandarin ducks, herons, kestrels, deer and stoats.
Although Mr Trotter's win was huge, it's nearly half the UK's biggest-ever lottery prize, awarded in July 2022 when a mystery winner scooped £195m.
And players in America currently have a 1 in 292.2 million chance of a whopping $1.55bn Powerball jackpot.
His manor may now be impressive shape, but Mr Trotter said he's no intention of taking it easy and will continue to develop the estate.
"I may be a millionaire but there is no sitting in armchairs with a pipe and slippers for me!" he said.
Mr Trotter is also supporting a young racing driver, Lewis Brown, who's in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series.
He said: "I'm able to provide him with the type of support I could only dream of when I was a young driver, but I'm a big believer in helping people who help themselves.
"And Lewis has shown nothing but hard work and commitment, so he deserves a bit of a leg up from me."
