This is the second time that the record for Lotto’s largest single-ticket win has been broken this year. Originally set over two decades ago in 1995 when a pair of business partners claimed a top prize of £22.5 million, the history books were rewritten in January this year when a jackpot of over £66 million was split between two tickets which each received £33 million. This latest jackpot, although not the largest, will see this most recent victor take top spot as the winner of the biggest prize Lotto has ever bestowed on one player.
Having matched the winning numbers of 15, 17, 31, 41, 50 and 57, the prosperous player not only became the fourth winner of the top prize this year, but also received a seal of approval from lottery officials, with a spokesman hailing the prize as “a truly life-changing amount of money”, adding that “We urge players to check their tickets and we have the champagne on ice ready to welcome these lucky winners into the National Lottery millionaires' club.”
Despite this amazing win, Wednesday evening’s prize winner is still some way off when it comes to the largest lottery prize awarded to a UK resident. That honour is still very much with EuroMillions winners Colin and Chris Weir who secured a gargantuan sum of £161.7 million in July 2011. Their monumental win has set the bar high, but with three jackpots of over £30 million this year alone, it may only be a matter of time until Lotto jackpots are setting even more records of their own.
The Lotto jackpot has now been reset and will be worth an estimated £4.2 million ahead of this Saturday’s draw. If you’d like to be in with a chance of claiming one of those famous giant cheques, tickets can be purchased online or from any authorised retailer from across the UK. Good luck and keep those fingers crossed!
*UK Lotto operator Camelot confirmed at around 13.40 GMT that a claim has been staked for the £35.1 million jackpot. More information to be revealed soon.
