Lottery Prize Goes Unclaimed In Suffolk

17 December 2010, 13:15 | Updated: 17 December 2010, 13:19

A lottery prize worth nearly £54,000 has gone unclaimed for so long, the money will now go to charity.

Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, the operator of The National Lottery, have today announced that the £53,948 prize from the Lotto draw on Saturday 19 June 2010 has remained unclaimed more than 180 days after the draw took place.

Therefore the money, plus the interest it earned, has now passed over to the Good Causes. The ticket-holder - who matched five numbers and the bonus ball - bought their Lotto ticket in the Bury St Edmunds area of Suffolk. The deadline for the ticket-holder to claim their prize was at 5.30pm yesterday.

A National Lottery spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money. To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis.

"We tried very hard to find the ticket-holder and it's a real shame that they have missed out, but there is still one winner - the nation. This money will now go to the Good Causes, adding to the £25 billion which, over the last 16 years, has funded the biggest programme of civic regeneration seen in the UK since the 19th Century."  

The unclaimed prize will be added to the £25 billion that has already been raised for the Good Causes through National Lottery ticket sales since launch in November 1994.

With all National Lottery draws, players have 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their prize if they have the winning ticket. Anyone who thinks they have the winning ticket for any of the National Lottery draws within the 180-day deadline can call the National Lottery Line on 0845 910 0000.