WORKERS at a plumbers merchants were celebrating today after scooping £1.3million on the National Lottery after playing the game for just three weeks.

The 16 lucky workers at James Hargreaves in Todmorden Road, Burnley, won £84,101.62 each after matching all six number with a syndicate ticket.

And bosses at the company confirmed that 90 per cent of the winners clocked into work yesterday morning and said they didn't plan to give up.

Life will be a lot sweeter for the gang, most of whom work in the loading bay at the showroom, but not so for nine former members who recently pulled out of the syndicate.

Driver Mick Canby, 32, of Duke Bar, Burnley, who is getting married to fiancee Lisa Harrison next year,said: "We had booked to hold the wedding at Turf Moor -- it will now be in Mexico.

"We are also going to be able to buy a house outright and enter married life with no mortgage and no debts."

Mick said the former members had all handled it superbly well and there was no animosity -- though a few a colleagues were kicking themselves.

The original syndicate had 25 members who paid £1 a week for an 'in-house' bonus ball competition but a lottery entry had whittled down to 16.

It was loading bay driver and former Clarets player David Miller, who decided they should switch to lucky dip entries and 16 entered the new syndicate. Their winning numbers were 8, 14, 25, 36, 38 and 47.

The 38-year-old, whose dad is ex-Burnley manager Brian Miller and himself is a manager with the Vauxhall Conference side Stalybridge Celtic, said: "We were getting just £16 back and so it was suggested that we try out lucky dip numbers and the majority wanted to do it. I said you never know your luck -- and we won!"

The syndicate organiser, Sean Wiloughby, 36, checked the numbers at 6.30am on

Sunday, but waited several hours, checking the numbers several more times, before he rang the rest of the gang up to pass on the good news.

Mr Canby said: "My reaction was, 'Oh my God!'"

When showroom display organiser Mick Eunson, 44, of Whalley, received his phone call he thought it was an April Fool's joke and refused to believe it until his colleagues drove over to his house with the winning ticket.

Mick, who is married to Susan who has a 14-year-old son Liam, said: "I was the last one to get the message and I only found out on Monday. I thought it was a wind up.

"I am going to spend the money paying my house off and having a nice holiday probably in Tenerife.

"I will be carrying on working for at least another five years or so."

Receptionist Carol Digger, from Heasandford, has still to plan how to spend her portion of the winnings -- but she was sure her husband Graham and children Michelle, 21 on Monday, and 17-year-old Darren would have some ideas.

But loading bay worker Warren Hey said it his wife Pamela would be making the decisions as to where the winnings went.

Warren, 51, of Brunshaw, said: "The wife is planning a conservatory and she has spent the money already. We are also planning a holiday and a car.

"It has not really sunk in yet that we won."

The jackpot of £6.7million was shared by five ticket holders across the country.