People in one nearby town are convinced that the £195 million jackpot-winning Euromillions ticket was sold there last week. One lucky UK player bagged the record-breaking jackpot, with many people from one particular town in Merseyside believing the winning ticket was sold in their area.
The Liverpool ECHO visited a number of shops in Formby and almost every shop worker had heard the rumour that the ticket was handed over the counter somewhere in the daytripper hotspot. The Euromillions draw that saw almost £200m handed out, the biggest National Lottery win of all time, took place last Tuesday, during a heatwave that saw thousands flock to the coast, with shopworkers throughout the town adamant they sold the winning ticket.
One worker from Bargain Booze told the ECHO: "I'm sure I sold [the winning ticket]. I remember serving one lad, I looked at the ticket and the numbers just looked right. Our boss is on holiday and we haven't heard anything from Camelot about whether we were the ones to sell it."
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The owner of one newsagent in the town told the ECHO that she heard the rumours and is waiting to see whether it was her shop that sold the golden ticket. She said: "If you're the one that sells it I'm sure they come down with a banner and make an event of it. I've not heard anything but people have been saying it was sold in Formby. I don't know if the person is actually from Formby though."
One worker told the ECHO that she heard that the person who won it was from Leeds and had visited the town for the day during the heatwave. She said: "I heard the person who won it was from Leeds and they were here on Monday or Tuesday for the day. People travel from Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool just to come to Formby for the day so it would make sense."
When Camelot was asked whether the shop which sold the winning ticket was in Formby, the ECHO was told the company could neither confirm nor deny where the ticket was sold. A spokesperson confirmed that the money had been claimed by the person with the winning ticket but they have not yet decided whether they want to go public about the win.
Camelot said at the time of the win that no information will be released on whether the claimant is an individual or a syndicate winner, or where the ticket was purchased, unless the ticket-holder decides to go public. The winning numbers for the record-breaking draw were 06, 23, 27, 40 and 41 – and the Lucky Star numbers were 02 and 12.
Only 15 UK players have ever won a jackpot of more than £100 million, with the previous record-holders Joe and Jess Thwaite winning more than £184 million earlier this year. The couple, from Gloucester, scooped £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket for the draw on May 10. Joe, 49, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, 44, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two primary school-aged children.
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