Viv Nicholson

Died: April 11, 2015

Viv Nicholson, who has died aged 79, was a housewife and factory worker from Yorkshire who became famous when she won the pools in 1961 before taking just three years to deliver on her promise to spend, spend, spend.

She won £152,300, 18 shillings and eight pence (which is the equivalent of around £3.5million today) at a time when she was earning £7 a week in her factory job. When she arrived in London to collect the cheque from Littlewoods in 1961, reporters crowded around her, which is when she made her famous vow to spend the winnings with abandon.

She immediately became a media celebrity, mixing with the likes of Joan Collins and Mae West, but she was also an important cultural figure as one of the few working class voices heard in mainstream media in the 1960s. The Smiths, a band that revelled in Northern working class culture, later put her on the covers of their singles.

Born in Castleford, West Yorkshire, Nicholson had a desire to go to art college when she was a child, but was forced to leave school at 14 to work in a factory and contribute to the family income.

At the time of the win, she was 25 years old and married to miner Keith Nicholson. They immediately moved from their council house to a posher suburb and started spending the money at the rate of about £1,400 a week on cars, jewellery, furs, champagne, parties and a lot of alcohol.

By 1965, Mr Nicholson had been killed in a car crash and his wife was bankrupt. She later criticised Littlewoods for not offering them any help or advice. "Littlewoods never gave us any help," she said. "They sent Keith and me out to the wild blue yonder. People like me would win the pools without having any idea how to handle it. When Camelot started the National Lottery, they called me up and said, 'We have learnt from Littlewoods' mistakes.' They keep in touch with all the previous winners and keep an eye on them, which is how it should be."

After the money was gone, Nicholson struggled with alcohol and depression and in the years that followed she moved to Malta but was deported for fighting a policeman. She also got a job singing Hey Big Spender at a Manchester strip club - only to be fired for refusing to bare all. Later, she became a Jehovah's Witness.

Her son Howard said she had died following a long fight against dementia after developing the condition in 2009.

In a statement posted on her website, he said: "After suffering with dementia for five years, she died on April 11 at Pinderfields Hospital with her sons at her side.

"Viv was a one-off in all ways - a loving and loved mother, a glamorous great grandmother and a friend to many."

A West End musical celebrating Mrs Nicholson's life, named after her trademark catchphrase, premiered in 1999. She also published her memoirs, Spend, Spend, Spend in the 1970s. She is survived by her children.