Money can't buy you love: £9m lottery winners' marriage crumbles

So when the couple won £9million on the National Lottery two years ago, they were quick to toast their good fortune, saying: "We never have to worry again."

But the millionaire lifestyle has brought only heartache to the once-happy pair with the news that they have split.

A close friend said: "It's all very sad. You would think £9million would sort out any problems but they are living proof that money cannot buy you happiness.

"Keith hasn't been seen for ages and has been treated for depression. As far as people know, he's staying with friends.

"They had 25 years as an ordinary couple with no real money and have lasted less than two since they became millionaires. Everyone's really upset about it."

Mr Gough was working as a chef and his wife a legal secretary when they won the rollover jackpot prize in June 2005.

The pair described how money had been so tight that they had once been forced to cancel a trip to Weymouth because their kitchen stove needed replacing.

With their winnings, the couple planned to buy a motorhome and go travelling around the UK, while Mrs Gough spoke of her desire to own a large collection of shoes.

Since then, the couple have moved from their £160,000 semi in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, into a £500,000 detached home just around the corner.

Mr Gough has quit his job and invested in racehorses and bought a £60,000 BMW. But in recent months he is thought to have suffered from depression.

Neighbours say he has not been seen at home for several weeks.

Now the pair - who are both 56 and have a 12-year- old son - are believed to be in the process of divorcing.

Mrs Gough, who bought the winning ticket in a local corner shop, has previously described how her husband dreamt their numbers would come up.

After checking the ticket, he burst into her office to break the news. "I dismissed it and told him that 'everyone has those kind of dreams' and to forget about it," she was to recall at the handing over of the cheque. "When Keith turned up at work I thought something had happened. He wouldn't stop shaking and I thought, 'For goodness sake!' and just wanted to slap him.

"I asked him what the matter was and he said, 'You've won the jackpot. It's £9million.'

"I said: 'It can't be true - I don't believe it!'"

Her husband added: "I have never had a dream come true before. Now I suppose I don't have to have any dreams."

Today Mrs Gough - who also has a 35-year-old daughter by a previous relationship - was by herself at the couple's home, which had a Skoda and a Peugeot convertible parked in the driveway.

She refused to comment but later said in a statement that "sadly" she and her husband had separated. She said they were still in contact and on speaking terms, but would not say what had caused the split.