A BELATED honeymoon is on the cards for a Whitby couple who have just scooped £1.6m on the National Lottery.

Bet and Dave Howard could not believe their luck when they checked their lottery numbers last Thursday on Teletext and discovered they had won £1,653,375. A total of seven people shared the Wednesday rollover jackpot.

The couple, both unemployed for 15 years, only had £10 to last them until the following Wednesday.

Bet, aged 48, said: "I think we'd quite like to go on a belated honeymoon."

Asked what they did following their marriage last year, Dave said: "We went to a pub my sister works in. Her wedding present was our reception and after that we went home."

The lucky couple have never been abroad and are currently working on getting passports so they can go on honeymoon and visit relatives in Dubai.

The couple who announced their win from the famous Royal Hotel on West Cliff, Whitby, explained they had lived a hand-to-mouth existence for the past 15 years.

Dave, a former fireman aged 46, had been unable to work because of back problems and lived from week-to-week.

PICTURE: LOTTERY WINNERS: Dave and Bet Howard with the National lottery cheque for £1.6m Picture: Tony Bartholomew