A self-employed builder from Lincolnshire has been revealed as the winner of a £76.3m EuroMillions jackpot, after failing to check his ticket for six weeks. Andrew Clark, 51, of Boston, had stockpiled lottery tickets in his van and only discovered his win when his partner's niece urged him to check.
Clark bought the ticket for the 2 November draw at Eastwood Road Post Office in Boston. He tucked it into the visor of his Peugeot Expert van, where it remained for over a month while he worked through cold winter days, unaware of his fortune.
The winner finally checked his tickets on the evening of 13 December, after repeated reminders from his partner Trisha Fairhurst and her niece Louise. Working through the bundle methodically, he realised he had won the top prize. He immediately called Trisha, a catering assistant at a local hospital, and told her: 'Start looking for a mansion.'
Trisha, also 51, initially did not believe him. 'Obviously I didn't believe a word of it, even when my niece came on the phone to say it was true,' she said. The couple have since bought a new home and two cars: a Mercedes C63 AMG and a Nissan Qashqai.
The jackpot had been rolling over since the start of October, making it Britain's largest ever unclaimed lottery prize. Clark, who has awarded himself early retirement, said the win was a shock: 'You might say I was slightly winding up Louise but I certainly didn't expect the wind up to end with me saying I've done it, I've won £76M.'
