One week to claim a £ 58million Lotto win

A MYSTERY Lottery “winner” has less than a week to prove they have a valid claim on a £ 58million jackpot.

They came forward to claim the Euromillions prize – with a ticket purchased somewhere in Ayrshire – back in April.

But Camelot yesterday confirmed that they had still been unable to validate the March 17 ticket.

It means the £ 57,879,670 prize will go into the fund for good causes at midnight on Sunday if the winner cannot produce further proof of the win.

A spokesman said: “We received a claim on this prize a while ago.

“However, as with all major prizes, the claim goes through a rigorous validation process to ensure the prize can be paid under the National Lottery Game Rules.”

Camelot’s refusal to reveal details of why its has refused to pay out has prompted some speculation that the ticket may have been damaged, lost, or mistakenly submitted.

In May, the group’s senior winners’ adviser Andy Cartle, 46, told how he had handed out £ 130million in cheques during lockdown – but it had not been easy.

To keep to coronavirus restrictions, one bumper winner pushed their winning ticket through the letterbox, while another offered it on the end of a litter picker.

Andy, from Cardiff, collected it and put a bottle of champagne on the end for the lucky winner, while another ticket was tucked under a garden gnome.

Overall, £ 4.1billion was won by National Lottery participants in the 2018/ 2019 financial year. Unclaimed prizes add up to three per cent of the total amount. All unclaimed prizes go to good causes.