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Search on for unclaimed Lottery millions
11 Sep 2009A city was bracing itself for a frenzy of back-of-the-sofa searching and sock drawer ransacking today after details were revealed of an unclaimed £5 million lottery prize.
National Lottery operator Camelot said the £4,908,817 Lotto jackpot from Saturday August 29 was won by a ticket bought in the Sheffield area, but no one has so far come forward to claim the prize.
Now the search is on to trace the would-be millionaire.
A spokeswoman for Camelot said the draw made was during the Bank Holiday weekend and, therefore, there's a chance the winner was visiting the Yorkshire city during the break.
The lucky ticket-holder has until 5.30pm on Thursday February 25 next year to make their claim.
The winning Lotto numbers were 9, 18, 34, 37, 39 and 47.
If no-one comes forward with the winning ticket before this deadline the prize money plus all the interest it has generated will go to the Good Causes.
The biggest ever unclaimed jackpot was one of £9.4 million. The unlucky punter in that case bought their ticket in the Doncaster area of South Yorkshire in 2005 but never came forward to claim the cash.
The Camelot spokeswoman said: "We're desperate to find this mystery ticket-holder and unite them with their winnings - this amazing jackpot prize could really make a difference to somebody's life.
"We're urging everyone to check their old tickets again or look anywhere a missing ticket could be hiding.
"Try checking in the pockets of clothing, in wallets, bags and down the back of the sofa - someone out there could literally be sitting on a fortune.
"We have the champagne on ice and our fingers crossed that the lucky winner, wherever they are, comes forward to claim their win."
Anyone who believes they have the winning ticket should call the National Lottery Line on 0845 910 0000.
Camelot said two EuroMillions prizes are also outstanding from the Bank Holiday weekend - from the Cannock Chase District and Dundee area respectively. Both prizes are to the value of £119,777.50 and are from the draw on Friday August 28.
The winning EuroMillions numbers on that date were 8, 36, 37, 41, 49 and the Lucky Star numbers were 5 and 7.
The winning ticket-holders matched five main numbers in the draw.
