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Margaret Dickson, who also worked as a police officer, lived in a simple flat in Glasgow but was secretly playing the stock market.

She had £1.1million stashed away in stocks and shares as well as thousands of pounds in bank accounts her family had no idea about.

When she dies last year, aged 72, her family thought her only assets were the small flat she owned in Riddrie, Glasgow.

But they were stunned when they discovered she had left more than £1.1 million to charities in her will.

Her cousin Jean Brock, 63, said: "We were astonished to see how much money she had."

Despite living modestly and working as both a teacher and a police officer she was sitting on a massive investment portfolio.

Her estate included £63,000 of shares in Marks and Spencer, £62,000 in British American Tobacco and £230,000 invested in the Government-backed saving scheme National Savings and Investments.

While her home and all her belongings were worth just £74,500. The only hint her relatives had of her secret wealth was her fondness for foreign holidays and the occasional prize cheque from premium bonds.

Margaret never married and is believed to have started her secret life playing the stock market after her bachelor uncle invested money for her as a child.

Jean said: "Nobody had any idea how much the will was worth or just how much her wealth had accumulated.

"We were appointed as executors so we got to see her will."

Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation are set to be the biggest beneficiaries each receiving £250,000 while Barnardo's, the National Institute for the Blind and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute were each left £180,000.