Lottery Couple Divorce: £148m Bayfords Split

A couple who won £148m on the lottery last year are to divorce, following the "irretrievable" breakdown of their marriage.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Haverhill, Suffolk, bagged Britain's second biggest ever lottery prize with their Euromillions jackpot in August last year.

Jardine Michelson Public Relations issued a statement on Mrs Bayford's behalf confirming the split.

"Gillian Bayford confirms that her marriage to Adrian has broken down irretrievably and they have separated," it said.

"Gillian requests that the media respect her and her children's privacy and that of their wider family at this time.

"Gillian will be giving no further comment about this matter either now or in the future."

Mr Bayford, 43, told The Sun that he had left the couple's £6m Georgian mansion and moved a 10-minute drive away to a £500,000 four-bedroom house in Suffolk.

At a news conference with lottery organiser Camelot after their win, mother-of-two Mrs Bayford, 41, said she hoped the windfall would allow the family to spend more time together.

At the time she was working nights as a healthcare assistant on the children's ward at the Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

Mr Bayford ran a record shop in Haverhill, which closed following the pair's bumper win.

"We have lived within our means and been comfortable but we have been like ships in the night to earn the income we needed," she said at the time of the win.

"It will be fantastic to spend more time as a family now. This money has come at the right time for us and is going to benefit the whole family."

The couple also said after their win that they would give money to friends and family who have "helped them in the good and bad times and now it's time to repay that".