Keighley had two million-pound lottery wins this week.

The news broke last night as the Keighley News went to press.

The first winners are Phil and Susan Bowness who won £1.25 million on last Saturday's National Lottery.

The other is Airedale Hospital student radiographer Louise Hall, of Canal Road, Crossflatts, who won £1,029,331 million on Wednesday's lottery draw.

The two sets of winners will face the national media at a specially-convened press conference at a top hotel this morning.

National Lottery headquarters refused to confirm any details but a spokesman told the Keighley News: "It is remarkable to have two major jackpot winners living so close together."

Phil and Susan, who have five children, want to take their son Frank, who has cerebral palsy, to swim with dolphins.

Susan says: "It is one of those things we have dreamed off. It is said there is a great therapeutic value to those like Frank. It's unbelievable, but it could now come true."

The family could not believe their luck when the six numbers they picked came up - netting them a cool £1,253,926.

Phil, 37, says: "We all feel great but it has been a complete and utter shock for myself and Susan, because we could just never imagine winning the lottery.

"I don't think it will change our personalities, but we should now be in a more comfortable financial position for the rest of our lives."

Susan, 35, adds: "It's a really nice feeling, but I still feel stunned and a little bit scared by what has happened."

The scoop is particularly sweet for Phil who has been unable to work since 1991 when his left foot was crushed in a work-related accident. The former engineer used to work for Keighley lathe manufacturer Dean Smith and Grace.

The winning numbers - 2, 16, 25, 27, 37 and 45 - were picked at random by the family, who bought the ticket from the general post office in Keighley town centre.

Phil only realised they had struck it rich on Sunday - four days after buying the ticket.

He explains: "We usually do the lottery at the weekend, but because we were going to a wedding in Northampton we decided to buy the ticket on Wednesday. Before we went away I gave the ticket to my daughter Sarah who threw it into a kitchen cupboard.

"When we got back home on Sunday evening I checked the numbers for the Saturday draw, and then thankfully managed to find the ticket."

Phil has already splashed out some of the cash on his dream motor - a new £60,000 Porsche 911 - and the family are now thinking about buying a new house.

They intend to share their good fortune by organising a big party for friends and family, some time in the near future.

They still intend taking their annual holiday already booked in Cornwall.

Susan adds: "There's lots of things we can now buy that were just impossible dreams before the win.

"We are all going to have a special treat. The children want their own computers."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.