by Renee Israel
Two weeks after a EuroMillions draw which saw a UK ticket holder
win £63.8 million - half of a giant rollover jackpot which he or she shares with
a winner from Belgium - the search is still on for the lucky winner.
Nobody has come forward to claim the prize, and the National
Lottery has said that if nobody does so today, a publicity drive will begin to
name the region where the ticket was purchased.
"This area is provided by Camelot's security team in line with its
license obligations and is designed to encourage tickets to be checked but also
to enable the ticket holder to remain anonymous if they wish," said a
spokeswoman for Camelot, operators of the National Lottery.
Under the UK lottery rules, if a big prize remains unclaimed after
a fortnight, a publicity drive for the EuroMillions winner will start.
If a publicity drive does start, it will be the longest period that
a prize of this size has gone unclaimed.
Winners Have 180 Days to Claim EuroMillions Prizes
The rules of the EuroMillions lottery dictate that the winner has
180 days from the date of the draw to claim the prize, whereafter the prize will
revert to the lottery operator and be used for good causes.
As such, the winner may be aware of the win but is biding time as
he or she still has until December 5th to come forward.
"There are a variety of reasons people don't come forward," noted
the Camelot spokeswoman. "They might be on holiday, they might not play
regularly, or sometimes in the case of syndicates, they only check their tickets
once a month."
If the worst scenario happens and nobody claims the money within
180 days, the money and its interest returns to the National Lottery and is
directed to its Good Causes fund.
£12 Million Jackpot in Tonight's EuroMillions Draw
In the meantime, players who are hoping to get their hands on
millions of their own should buy tickets for tonight's draw (Friday, June 22nd)
where a £12 million EuroMillions jackpot is up for grabs.
Tickets will be sold until this evening at 7.30 pm. and the draw
will take place soon after. All you need to do to select five numbers from 1 -
50 and two Lucky Stars from 1 to 11 in order to start playing.
If you miss out on tonight's draw, another will take place on
Tuesday. For just £2 a ticket, you can put yourself in line to win a
life-changing sum of cash.
