A BARNSLEY man says winning a huge £777,000 in a radio station’s competition may just persuade him to retire - having spent more than 30 years with the same company.

Shane Evans, 64, was left stunned when presenter Planet Rock presenter Kate Thornton rang him last Friday evening to tell him he had scooped the life-changing prize in its Make Me A Winner competition.

The married father-of-three had just arrived home and was alone in the house when he answered the call.

“I saw it was a private number and my heart just jumped,” Shane said.

“I couldn’t believe it - I’m generally a calm person but I was just in complete shock.”

Shane, a lift engineer, admitted he had almost missed out before having entered the competition on previous occasions but left his phone at home.

“This time I just felt like I needed to enter,” he added

“The number seven has always been lucky for me - my birthday is on the seventh and even my name seems to spell out seven - so perhaps it was meant to be.”

After putting the phone down, Shane’s quiet Friday evening quickly turned into a celebration after wife Joanne, 61, returned home to the extraordinary news.

“I’ve worked at the same firm for over 30 years and I’ve loved it - I don’t want to rush in and decide anything straight away, but retirement is definitely more firmly on the cards now.

“We had a few drinks and tried to take it all in.

“It’s such a lovely amount of money to win - genuinely life-changing.

“We’d love a family holiday and I’ll probably get a new car.”

The couple, who have been married for 40 years, are also now planning for the future for their family - with three children and three grandchildren, they want to invest properly so that they are all looked after in years to come.

“They’ll all be very shocked,” Shane added.

“It’s wonderful knowing we can improve their lives as well as ours.”