Unclaimed £20m Lotto ticket bought in the North
A £20m (€30m) lottery ticket – the biggest-ever unclaimed jackpot – was bought in Northern Ireland, British National Lottery operator Camelot revealed today.
Three weeks after the Lotto rollover draw was made no one has come forward to collect the cheque for £20,100,472 (€30,453,115).
The winning numbers revealed on Wednesday July 14 were 6, 27, 33, 38, 45 and 47 and the deadline for the ticket-holder to collect their winnings is January 10, 2005.
But Camelot is keen for the winner to come forward as soon as possible as they are missing out on £2,200 (€3,333) a day after tax in interest.
If the ticket was bought by one person rather than a syndicate, the winner will become the biggest-ever in the National Lottery’s 10 year history.
Jacquie Wilson from Camelot, who is spearheading the search for the missing millionaire, said: “Twenty million pounds is an amazing amount of money and we are working very hard to try and unite the ticket-holder with their win.
“Although the ticket was bought in Northern Ireland, the winner could be from anywhere in Britain.
“Perhaps someone was enjoying an early summer holiday, or maybe the lucky ticket-holder was over on business when they made their lucky purchase.
“The second half of July is also the start of the holiday period for Northern Ireland so it could be that the winner has simply been away for a few weeks.
“If that’s the case they’re in for a wonderful surprise on their return.
“Wherever they are, there is still time to claim, so I would urge all Lotto players to go through old receipts, dig in pockets, search down the back of the sofa – you never know what you might find.
“We have the champagne on ice and all I need now is a name to put on that cheque.”
She added that with all lottery prizes the player has 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their win.
The previous biggest unclaimed Lottery prize was for £3m (€4.5m). The ticket was bought in south Hertfordshire in September 2000.
Up to now the largest amount won by a player from Northern Ireland was £10.2m (€15.4m), scooped by former bus driver Peter Lavery from the Short Strand area of East Belfast who hit the jackpot back in 1996.
