UK National Lottery player scoops £15m jackpot days before Christmas - but has yet to claim it

One lucky ticket holder has won life-changing sum but may not yet realise

A lucky winner has scooped the £15m jackpot just before Christmas (PA Archive)

One lucky national lottery winner has scooped a huge £15 million jackpot just before Christmas - but has yet to claim the ticket.

The competition released the winning Lotto numbers and urged people to check their tickets and call in to claim the huge prize.

On Saturday evening National Lottery spokesperson Andy Carter said: “Brilliant news, one lucky ticketholder has won tonight’s festive £15m ‘Must Be Won’ Lotto jackpot.”

“That’s certainly something to cheer about this Christmas. Players are urged to check their tickets and to give us a call to claim tonight’s exciting jackpot prize.”

It comes after a claim was made for the £13 million jackpot prize last week which was won by a single ticket-holder in the Lotto ‘Must Be Won’ draw. The claim must go through a validation process, after which the prize will be paid before the ticket-holder chooses whether to go public or not.

Do you know the winner? Email alexander.butler@independent.co.uk

The winning Lotto numbers were 17, 29, 31, 40, 47, 56 and the bonus number was 44. Two people also picked up £1million after matching five numbers plus the bonus ball.

No players matched all five numbers to win the Lotto HotPicks, which uses the same numbers as the Lotto draw. The winning Thunderball numbers were 05, 10, 15, 16, 35 and the Thunderball number was 03.

One person scooped the £500,000 top prize by matching all five and the Thunderball. Wednesday’s estimated jackpot is £2 million.