The grandfather who won £1million with a 50p flutter on the horses

Hours after discovering the flutter of a lifetime had come up, Freddie Craggs celebrated his 60th birthday having a pub meal with friends - but chose not to tell them about his extraordinary stroke of luck.

As word spread about the big win, relatives confirmed his identity.

But the man himself - a divorced father-of-three whose family say is a former bankrupt - was keeping a low profile.

He has yet to contact the betting shop to claim his winnings on an eight-race accumulator at odds of 2million to 1. Until now Mr Craggs has lived humbly in rural North Yorkshire, working as an agricultural lime and fertiliser agent, and driving an old Ford Mondeo.

He recently moved into his mother Jean's four-bedroom house in Carthorpe after she died aged 83 and his one vice was betting tiny sums on the horses as a "pastime".

Sister-in-law Hilary Craggs said: "He won't have a clue what to spend it on. He leads a quiet life.

"It will take him a long time to come to terms with having money.

"He was bankrupt about 20 years ago, but I think that was after he was involved with a haulage business.It was discharged a long time ago."

His younger brother Charles, 54, a cattle and arable farmer in the Yorkshire Dales, only just had Freddie's windfall confirmed.

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Winnings: Freddie won £1million with this 50p horseracing bet

He said: "Yes, it's my brother Freddie. It was his 60th birthday yesterday and he went out with some friends, but he stayed quiet about it."

Charles said his brother would "ring William Hill in a day or two".

Mr Craggs placed the bet in Thirsk, but didn't realise he had won when he walked into another William Hill betting shop in neighbouring Bedale on Saturday.

Cashier Ally Knowles, 43, recognised Mr Craggs as the regular customer rumoured to be the new millionaire.

She said: "I thought he was the chap who had won and said, "I didn't-think I'd see you today". But he didn't even know he had won."

Mr Craggs said he had two betting slips in the car and he brought them in to have the win confirmed.

"He started shaking as I congratulated him. He was completely shocked."

Mr Craggs was told he could only collect his winnings by contacting the Thirsk shop where the bet was made and is yet to do that.

His lucky streak began on Friday afternoon when a horse called Isn't That Lucky won the 2.55 at Sandown Park at odds of 8-1.

His aptly-named final selection A Dream Come True won the last race at Wolverhampton at 5-2.