A Blenheim couple were lying in bed listening to the radio on Saturday night when they realised they had won $500,000 with Lotto First Division.

"We have been playing the same numbers for 15 years," says the winning husband, "so we immediately recognised that our numbers had come up".

"My wife jumped out of bed and went onto the computer to check the results - and sure enough, we had won half a million! We just went yee-ha, and then spent a sleepless night thinking about our win and talking about what we could do with the money", the winner said.

The winning ticket was kept in sight all night - safe on the couple's bedroom chest of drawers.

The winning couple now plan to pay off their mortgage with their win and will help out family and some charities.

"It's a great win, enough to make us comfortable," adds the winner.

Their winning ticket was sold at Redwood Lotto in Blenheim.

Meanwhile, a $6.5 million prize won at the weekend on a Lotto Powerball ticket sold at The Fix St James, in central Auckland, still remains unclaimed.