The UK's £76 Million Jackpot Winner Has Been Revealed

1. Lottery.co.uk
2. News
3. The UK's £76 Million Jackpot Winner Has Been Revealed

A builder from Boston has been confirmed as the £76 million EuroMillions winner from the UK, but it has been revealed that he left it six weeks to check the winning ticket, and only then after he was urged to by family members.

Andrew Clark, 51, was presented as the winner in a media ceremony on Friday and he explained why it took him so long to come forward. He said that he had left the ticket in his van, along with many other unchecked tickets, and only thought to check it when reminded by his partner of four years, catering assistant Trisha Fairhurst.

“Trisha kept telling me to check the tickets, and her niece Louise, who I was building an extension for, was also in on it once she’d heard about the unclaimed prize in the news.

“It was something of a standing joke that I had all these tickets while there was a local prize outstanding, so for weeks they were on at me to check. I’m very pleased that Trisha and Louise nagged me to check those tickets!”

Clark won the prize – the 12th-biggest seen in the UK – in the 2nd November EuroMillions draw, but he only got round to checking the tickets in his van six weeks later. The winning one was found in one of the visors. After learning that he had won, Clark called his partner and told her, “Start looking for a new mansion!”

The prize had been subject to many news stories as the weeks went by without anyone coming forward to claim. Two weeks after the draw, the National Lottery launched a campaign in the media to spread the word in the Boston and Skegness area. The store where the ticket was bought wasn’t revealed at the time to protect the winner’s anonymity, but it was disclosed on Friday that it had been bought at the Eastwood Road Post Office in Boston.

In a press conference in Grantham on Friday, Clark said he was “the man who nearly lost £76 million.” He and Fairhurst have already bought a new home and new cars, and Clark said he plans use the money to retire and help his family.

“It almost feels like some magical Christmas story,” he said. “This Christmas is going to be a quiet affair, but next year will be a different story. Trisha and I have this vision of hiring a big lodge or hotel so that the whole family can get together and swap stories about how they’ve spent their share over the past 12 months.

“This win isn’t just about Christmas magic, it’s about creating a lifetime of magical moments for all those around us.”

The EuroMillions jackpot has since built back up to £90 million for Friday’s draw, and you can enter by buying a ticket from a local lottery retailer or by picking your numbers online.