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Editor scoops £8.4m rollover jackpot

The editor of a weekly newspaper has quit after scooping £8.4m on the national lottery.

Pat Griffiths, who until yesterday was editor of the Tindle-owned Abergavenny Chronicle, plans to put the money into the family home – a 148-acre farm outside the town.

She faced the press yesterday, deciding to come clean about her win because she knew how difficult it would be to keep her workmates in the dark.

And although it is probably the biggest scoop of her life, it remains to be seen whether Pat will be back at her desk for a few moments to write her own story for this week’s front page.

She had actually been off sick for a few days and rang in to say she wouldn’t be coming back at all.

Pat, (48), told the press conference: “When you are usually behind the headlines you know about the media and I did not want to be outed.

“I felt some eager journalist would still be looking for the story so we thought that we would come clean.

“I never thought of making the headlines myself but I could not think of a better way of doing it.”

The decision to opt for publicity about the win had also been based on her wish to help out other family members, husband Roger, (53), and sons Robert, (24), and David, (22).

Two years ago when she became editor of the newspaper the foot-and-mouth crisis was beginning and although Pat’s farm did not have the disease, it was all around and the business struggled and lost money.

She is now looking forward to making up the lack of investment it has suffered – and to helping around the farm instead of getting home in the dark.

The Chronicle, which has a 9,400 circulation, is owned by the Surrey-based Tindle group, whose profits last year were less than Pat’s win – at £5.3m.

The newspaper’s deputy editor, Liz Davies, said: “We are all delighted for Pat and grateful that she has given us a big story this week. I’m hoping she will come in to write it herself.”

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