Golden £161 million lottery ticket bought in UK

Neil Lancefield,Pa
Wednesday 13 July 2011 08:06 BST
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A single British ticket holder has become Europe's biggest ever lottery winner, scooping a record-breaking £161 million EuroMillions jackpot.

The lucky UK player matched all five main numbers and both Lucky Stars to take home the bumper prize in last night's draw, the National Lottery said.

It is not yet known whether the overnight millionaire is an individual or in a syndicate and Camelot has not revealed where they come from in the UK.

Yesterday's massive jackpot was capped after a series of rollovers made it the largest ever in the UK and Europe.

The winning numbers were 17, 19, 38, 42 and 45, and the Lucky Stars were 9 and 10.

The exact amount to be claimed by the winner is £161,653,000 while two other UK-based lottery players won £1.7 million after matching five numbers and one Lucky Star.

A National Lottery spokesman said: "This is amazing news - we are absolutely delighted that a UK ticket-holder has scooped the entire 185 million euro jackpot, which at the current exchange rate is a massive £161 million.

"This is the biggest winner this country and Europe has ever seen, and follows hot on the heels of the anonymous ticket-holder who last October scooped £113m.

"In addition, two UK ticket-holders in the next prize level down won £1.7 million for matching five main numbers and one Lucky Star.

"We've got the champagne on ice and look forward to welcoming the ticket-holders into the National Lottery millionaires' club."

Until yesterday's draw the largest lottery winner in the UK was an anonymous player who claimed £113 million in the EuroMillions in October last year.

If the ticket is held by a single player, it will catapult them into 430th place in this year's Sunday Times Rich List.

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