National Lottery winners lead search for £1million jackpot winner before deadline

Peter Stevens
Fri, 01 May 2026 03:26:46 +0000

Former National Lottery winners are leading the search for an unclaimed £1million jackpot winner as the deadline to claim the prize looms.

The winning tickets was purchased in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area for the EuroMillions draw on November 4, 2025.

But the prize expires at midnight on Sunday, and no winner has yet come forward.

Jamie and Danielle Heavens, previous National Lottery claimants, are now supporting the search for the winner.

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The couple posed on a Princess Y72 yacht in Poole with a mock-up of the unclaimed ticket.

Mr Heavens won the sum at just 22 years old, while working as a roofer.

He was unconvinced he had actually won the eye-watering sum as the National Lottery's phone lines had not yet opened.

Instead, he went to work as normal, and ended up phoning the helpline when he was on top of a roof with signal.

He said he was still in shock over his win until the money landed in his account.

After paying for a few extravagances, namely a car and wedding for his childhood sweetheart Danielle, he said he has been sensible with his money.

He now runs his own business and pays himself a normal wage, and still sometimes pays for lottery tickets, he said.

Winners of the National Lottery have 180 days from the day of the draw to claim the prize.

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If no winner claims the prize, the funds are transferred to the National Loterry's good causes fund.

Last month, a potential lottery missed out on a jackpot of £10.6million after no one claimed the massive sum.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, the operator of the lottery, said: "Despite an extensive search for the mystery Bexley millionaire, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward to claim their Lotto prize and has now unfortunately missed out on this life-changing sum of money.

"However, the money will now benefit Good Causes and add to the £33 million raised each week for National Lottery-funded projects, several of which can be found in the Bexley area."

Last summer a £208million was won by a single ticket but was not immediately claimed, causing a brief panic.

Eventually, the jackpot winner came forward revealed to be an Irish family syndicate - who wished to remain anonymous - who purchased the ticket at a family-run convenience store.

The largest ever unclaimed prize was from a EuroMillions draw in 2012, where a ticket worth over £60million was never claimed.

The lucky ticket was bought by a player in the area of Stevenage and Hitchin, but was never claimed.