A lottery player has forfeited a staggering £10.6m jackpot after failing to claim their prize within the 180-day deadline.
The winning Lotto ticket, worth the exact sum, went unclaimed despite an “extensive search” by the National Lottery. With last Thursday’s cut-off now passed, the substantial prize money will instead be donated to the good causes it supports.
A spokesperson for Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, told the Press Association: “The majority of prizes that would go unclaimed would be the smaller tier prizes. It’s very unusual for a prize of this size to go unclaimed.”
The jackpot ticket was bought in Bexley, southeast London, on 4 October 2025.
There are five “major” National Lottery prizes worth more than £3.2m yet to be claimed, three of which are £1m EuroMillions or Lotto tickets.
Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, 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 £33m raised each week for National Lottery-funded projects, several of which can be found in the Bexley area.”
National Lottery players have supported several projects across Bexley, including The Exchange Erith, a community-led arts and crafts organisation and You and Me Happy Family Children’s Disability Trust, which delivers inclusive support for disabled children and their careers.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s Lotto jackpot will be an estimated £3.9m after no player scooped Wednesday’s top prize.
No ticket-holders matched all six main numbers for the top prize while one player matched five numbers and the bonus ball to win £1 million.
There were 56 players who each won £1,750 after matching five of the six numbers.
The winning Lotto numbers were: 07, 16, 23, 27, 35, 40 and the bonus number was 48.
No players matched all five numbers to win the Lotto HotPicks, which uses the same numbers as the Lotto draw, but four matched four numbers to claim £13,000.
The winning Thunderball numbers were: 02, 07, 20, 23, 28 and the Thunderball number was 07.
No players matched five numbers and the Thunderball to scoop the £500,000 top prize, while two scooped £5,000 for matching five numbers.
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