It’s no wind-up. Houmet manager Ken Shaw holds up the ticket that gave 20 regulars and staff a £2,500 Christmas windfall. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0883849)

HOUMET Tavern regulars are living it up after winning £50,000 on the lottery.

Barman Michael ‘Inca’ Phillips said the £50,000 Les Bourgs Hospice Million Pound Lottery prize would be split 20 ways between staff and customers to give everyone a happy Christmas.

‘We have all been celebrating and having a laugh with it – the mood has been very happy here,’ he said.

‘These guys are working class eight-till-five workers.’

Each will take home £2,500.

‘We struggled to get the boys in to buy the tickets but once everyone gave in the money we got our tickets,’ he said.

The 20 friends shared two tickets between them.

‘We just moved to a new flat and paid the deposit, so some of this will go back into the bank account and the rest can go towards Christmas.’

‘One of the group is planning to take his nipper to Disneyland in Florida so now he doesn’t have to have the hassle of taking out a loan, he can just pay for it,’ he said.