National Lottery: Lucky ticket holder claims half of ‘must-win’ £12m jackpot

Unnamed claimant is set to receive £6,030,699 after matching all six numbers in Saturday draw

There was more than one millionaire made every day in 2022, the National Lottery said (PA Archive)

One lucky ticket-holder has claimed half of a £12 million prize from Saturday’s Lotto draw.

The unnamed claimant is set to receive £6,030,699 after matching all six numbers in the “must-be-won” draw.

The money means the winner could afford a seven-bedroom stately home in Berkshire, or a four-bedroom townhouse in London’s Belgravia, and still have enough left over for a luxury holiday in the Maldives every year for the rest of their lives.

Two tickets shared the jackpot on Saturday night, with the other prize not yet claimed, and the National Lottery is urging players to check their numbers to see whether they have won.

Saturday’s Lotto numbers were 05, 08, 20, 23, 30, 50 and the bonus number was 25.

If the second winner does not come forward by Friday, the method of ticket purchase - online or retail - will be released.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at the National Lottery, said: “We’re delighted that one of these fantastic Lotto jackpots from Saturday night’s £12 million ‘must-be-won’ draw has been claimed.

“What an absolutely amazing way to beat the January blues with a £6 million Lotto win. Our focus is now on supporting this jackpot-winning ticket-holder through the process and helping them start to enjoy their truly life-changing win.

“However, although the draw was only on Saturday night, there is one ticket-holder out there who perhaps doesn’t yet realise that they are a multi-millionaire.

“We’re urging all Lotto players to check their tickets as soon as possible so that we can pay out this second huge jackpot prize.”

It comes as one of the UK’s biggest lottery winners was spending prize money at a rate of £100,000 a week, documents have revealed.

Colin Weir, who won a record-breaking £161 million in 2011, spent around £40 million of his winnings before his death in 2019 from sepsis and an “acute kidney injury”.

Colin and Chris Weir (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

Mr Weir and his wife Christine, from Largs in North Ayrshire, became Scotland’s biggest lottery winners when they won the EuroMillions jackpot.

The pair divorced in 2018, with his wealth passed down to his two children following his death.

They became Europe’s second-biggest EuroMillions winners but lost the title when an anonymous individual in Italy won a jackpot worth £193 million.

Another couple who scooped the UK’s largest-ever lottery jackpot say the £184m win has given them “time to dream”.

Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucestershire, won more than £184m in the EuroMillions draw on Tuesday 10 May with a lucky dip ticket via The National Lottery app.

Mr Thwaite, 49, woke up early to an email telling him he had won the next morning.

“I looked it up and saw we’d won. I saw how much and I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t go back to sleep,” he said.

“I didn’t want to wake Jess up so I just laid there for what seemed like forever. I spent some time searching for property with no budget limit, which was a novelty!”