Everyone daydreams about what they would do if they won the lottery, but what actually happens to those lucky players who hit the jackpot and turn those dreams into reality?

Reporter Rachel Russell was invited to the recently revamped Camelot winner’s lounge, in Tolpits Lane, Watford, to discover the process National Lottery winners go through in order to claim their prize…

Apparently, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than winning the lottery during your lifetime. However, these odds do not stop eight million people winning prizes on a wide range of draw-based games and Scratch cards every week.

More than 4,600 millionaires or multi-millionaires have been created since Camelot, the governing body for the National Lottery, first began in November 1994, but the initial feeling of knowing you are suddenly a lot richer can be quite overwhelming and emotional.

As a result, there is a Players Service Team available to guide people through the blur of the first few days to ensure the practical matters are also dealt with.

The first step for major winners is to follow the instructions on the back of their winning ticket however, my journey began with a short drive to the winner’s lounge in a chauffeur driven Mercedes.

As I arrived at the Camelot offices, I was greeted by two smartly dressed butlers who guided me into the lounge area and I met Andy Carter, a service advisor, who explained that winners can either have the money paid directly into their online bank account or a new account set up specially by Camelot, depending on the size of the win.

Rather surreally, I then acted out each step the winner’s go through while they are in the lounge, in order for the experience to finally properly sink in.

I was shown pictures of previous winners on the wall, including Julie and Chris Jeffery from Watford, who scooped £1,038,997 on the Lotto in June 2002, before being presented with my own large dummy cheque for a million pounds.

Several photos ensued of me pulling my best look of enthusiasm while holding up the fake cheque and pretending I’d won, before testing out the Powerball machine and being handed a bottle of champagne.

The publicity photos of the winners are usually taken on a slightly unglamorous grassy area just behind the car park at the offices and luckily, it wasn’t raining as I was shown how to spray correctly.

It was also revealed to me that Cava is actually used, instead of champagne, as it provides more bubbles. Feeling rather alarmed at the pressure from both inside the bottle and also from ensuring I got a perfect picture, I shook the bottle and watched the drink flow through the air.

It was a strange morning, with an even more bizarre car ride back to my day job as the bubble of the winner’s lounge burst. I heard a rumble of thunder that brought me crashing back to reality, as I realised hitting the jackpot was still as likely as being hit by the oncoming lightning.

For more information: national-lottery.co.uk