Updated: IT was like an episode of Only Fools And Horses when cycle shop owner Neil Dexter discovered he had won almost £3.7 million on the National Lottery.

He told a press conference in York yesterday how, in a scene straight out of TV’s top sitcom when Del Boy discovered he had become a millionaire.

He said: “When I looked at the numbers in my van I just sat there screaming to myself.”

The van was rocking and his dog wondered what was going on.

When he rang his wife Lesley to tell her the good news, his daughter, Samantha, thought he had bad news, and Lesley then refused to believe they had won £3,687,356.

Mrs Dexter, 52, of Barmby Moor, who works part time as an administrator at a school in Pocklington, said: “To be honest, I didn’t believe a word he said, even when we returned home. I really didn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it until the woman from Camelot turned up the next day and then it became real.”

She said she planned to carry on working despite the win and her husband, who owns Wheelies Cycle Care, in Wilberfoss, said it would not stop him working either.

“I’ll continue running the business. I won’t say I’ll work harder because I won’t. I’ll be able to step back and enjoy life beyond work a little more, but I’ll still be involved,” he said.

“I’ve splashed out on a new van for the business and a pick-up. This will just enable me to finish work at 10pm rather than 12 o’clock at night.”

Mrs Dexter said she had been helping out with a dressage event at Everingham, and was riding her horse Harvey, when she got a phone call from her “very emotional husband, who isn’t normally like that.”

She said: “My daughter answered and thought it was bad news, as Neil wouldn’t tell her what he needed to speak to me for.”

The couple, who have a son Gareth, 22, and a daughter, Samantha, 23, said they wanted to make life more comfortable for the whole family and would probably splash out on a family trip to visit relatives in Australia, while Mrs Dexter said she also wanted to buy a new horse box.

She said they would also look to buy a new home, but would remain in the Pocklington area, where they had lived for 16 years.

Her husband said: “We haven’t done a lot to our house for years, so somewhere new would be great.”

Mr Dexter said he had kept his winning ticket, which he had bought from Wilberfoss Post Office, in a safe place before checking it, as they had three dogs “who like to chew things.”

He said he had bought lottery tickets religiously since it was launched, but never won more than £10 before. This time he won with the numbers 14, 26, 33, 45, 46 and 49.

The couple said they had decided to go public on their win because they lived in a small community where people would have found out anyway.