Lottery winner claims prize just hours before it was going to be given away

A lottery winner came forward to claim their prize on Wednesday, just hours before it was to be given away forever. Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery , said it has received a claim for the £1,000,000 prize from the Lotto draw on 1 November 2025. With Thursday, April 30, bringing the final deadline to claim, a mystery ticket-holder has managed to become a millionaire with just hours to spare. The ticket-holder matched five of the six main numbers - 17, 18, 31, 36, 39, 51 and the Bonus Ball number 29 to win the life-changing prize. With 180 days from the day of the draw to make a claim the winner, from the South Gloucestershire area, scrapped in just ahead of the deadline of midnight tomorrow, Thursday 30 April. Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said, “WOW, this is truly incredible. To receive a claim for this life-changing £1 million Lotto prize in the final hours before the final deadline is absolutely extraordinary. While is it unusual for prizes to go unclaimed, players coming forward at this final hour is even more rare. "We search for missing winners, so to see a claim come in following our appeals to unite the lucky winner with their £1M prize is just fantastic. Huge congratulations to our Lotto winner, we’re absolutely thrilled to now be supporting them as they begin what will no doubt be a remarkable, life changing journey.” This is not the first big National Lottery prize to be claimed in South Gloucester with just one day to go before it expired. In 2014 James Wilson from Bradley Stoke, Bristol found an old EuroMillions ticket when clearing out his wallet just the day before the deadline to claim. The then 28-year-old decided to check it and found it was worth £51,232.90. As with all major prizes, the claim will now go through the process of validation, which includes checks to ensure the Games Rules Terms and Conditions are adhered to and the integrity of The National Lottery is protected. Subject to validation, the prize will then be paid at an appointment with one of Allwyn’s Winners’ Advisers. Once the ticket has been validated and paid, the ticket-holder will then decide whether or not to go public and share their news. There will be no information on whether it is an individual or syndicate winner, or where the ticket was purchased, unless the ticket-holder decides to go public. While the £1 million Lotto prize from South Gloucestershire may have been claimed, the search is still on for a missing £1M EuroMillions winner from the Unitary Authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Players are searching for the winning Millionaire Maker code of HPCF58869 from the 4 November 2025 draw. The deadline to claim this £1M win is midnight on Sunday 3 May 2026. For a full list of major National Lottery prizes which are currently unclaimed visit www.national-lottery.co.uk/results/unclaimed-prizes