A CAR body sprayer’s money worries are over after he scooped a £153,594 win on the National Lottery.

Fortunes changed for single dad Ian Bridges when he matched five numbers and the bonus ball in the Lotto draw.

The 55-year-old grandfather recently returned to the Poole area after living in the Midlands for 10 years.

“I left my job in Birmingham without any work to come back to here, and also missed out on a big redundancy payout from my previous job,” he said.

“I moved in with my son Jason, 27, and his family in Poole, as at that point I didn’t have the means to get a deposit for a flat of my own.

“Although I managed to sort out some work at a garage through an old friend, I was having sleepless nights about my situation. I knew it wasn’t possible to stay with Jason for long, so I was going to have to borrow money to get myself a place.”

Ian has been buying two Lucky Dip tickets for each of the Tuesday and Friday Euromillions and the Wednesday and Saturday Lotto since January.

He was babysitting his grandson when the Wednesday, April 25 draw came on television.

“I usually check my tickets at the shop but as I watched the numbers come up and I checked them against my ticket. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw how many numbers I had,” he recalled.

“I tried to ring my daughter Steph two or three times. When I did get through, I said: ‘Could you come round because I think I’ve won?’ “She said: ‘Dad, you must have got it wrong’ but she drove over to the house to check. We just couldn’t believe it.

“I couldn’t sleep. It was three or four o’clock in the morning before I closed my eyes – I was buzzing. It still hasn’t sunk in and I don’t think it will for a long time.”

Ian has treated himself to a new car – a 2007 Jaguar – and is giving each of his four children £10,000 to spend however they like. He also wants to take them on holiday to Kenya.

The money has come at a good time for all of them. Daughter Abbi, nearly 17, wants to buy her first car; Steph, 25, has just bought a house with her partner, father-of-two Jason is getting married and other daughter Claire recently bought a car.

But Ian is keeping his feet on the ground and has no plans to give up his job at Dorset Car Body in Verwood.

“What I won is just enough to sort myself and the kids out. I’ll put the rest aside and take my time looking for a nice flat in the Poole or Bournemouth area,” he said.

“Everything has fallen into place for me – I can’t believe my luck has changed. I’ll continue to do the lottery. This is just a taster.”