UK National Lottery: £5M U.K. National Lottery winner claims jackpot
The winner of a £5 million (US$8.2 million) National Lottery jackpot which had gone unclaimed for two weeks has come forward, operator Camelot said today.
Last week Camelot launched an appeal to find the lucky punter after the £4,908,817 top prize from Saturday August 29 was not claimed.
The ticket was bought in the Sheffield area.
"We're delighted that the winner of this prize has now come forward and we hope that they will enjoy their win," a National Lottery spokeswoman said.
"It would have been awful if the ticket-holder had missed out on this substantial and life-changing amount of money. We would like to remind all National Lottery players to check their tickets every time they play."
The missing winner had until February 25 next year to make their claim but ended coming forward well before the deadline.
The winning Lotto numbers were 9, 18, 34, 37, 39 and 47.
Camelot said no more details about the winner will be released unless they agree to take part in publicity.
The biggest ever unclaimed jackpot was one of £9.4 million (US$15.5 million). The lottery player in that case bought their ticket in the Doncaster area of South Yorkshire in 2005 but never came forward to claim the cash.
This Friday's Euro Millions draw could break all records if it is won by a single player.
The estimated jackpot is £85 million (US$140 million). The UK's biggest lottery winner to date is Glasgow postal administrator Angela Kelly, who won £35.4 million (US$58.2 million) in August 2006.
The biggest Euro Millions winner of all time was Dolores McNamara, from the Republic of Ireland, who won £77 million (US$126.6 million) in July 2005.