The man, who placed the winning bet on Friday in Thirsk, north Yorkshire, had no idea he had won until he went to make more bets on Saturday.

He correctly predicted the winners of eight horse races in an accumulator bet, beating total odds of 2,000,000 to 1.

His lucky streak began with Isn't That Lucky in the 2.55 race at Sandown, which came in at 8-1, and ended with A Dream Come True, which won the 9.20 evening race at Wolverhampton at 5-2.

After staking five small bets at a different shop on Saturday morning, the man asked staff to check his betting slip from Friday.

Graham Sharpe, from William Hill, said: "When they told him he had £1 million to come but would have to collect it from the Thirsk shop, he went visibly pale before saying that he would have to go and tell his wife."

The lucky punter has not been named, but he is thought to be in his late 50s or early 60s, and regularly gambles small sums at the Thirsk branch of William Hill.

"A few days ago he said to the staff, 'one of these days, one of these bets will come up and you won't have enough money in the shop to pay out'," Mr Sharpe said.

The complete winning streak was - Isn't It Lucky at 8-1 in the 2.55 at Sandown; Mutamarres at 7-2 in the 3.05 at Nad al Sheba, Dubai; Mutasallil at 11-2 in the 3.40 at Nad al Sheba; Racer Forever at 4-1 in the 4.15 at Nad al Sheba; Ede's at 10-1 in the 4.50 at Warwick; Rio L'Oren at 15-2 in the 7.50 at Wolverhampton; Guadaloup at 11-2 in the 8.20 at Wolverhampton and A Dream Come True at 5-2 in the 9.20 at Wolverhampton.