The National Lottery is appealing for the winner of a £1million jackpot to come forward. The mystery person who bought the ticket in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has yet to claim their winnings after the draw on August 5. This saw the winning numbers: 12, 14, 16, 22, 29, 59, with the Bonus Ball of 58.
Urgent appeal to check tickets
Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery operator Allwyn, said: "We’re urging anyone who may have bought a ticket in the city of Wakefield for the Lotto draw on Wednesday, August 5, to check their tickets."
He added: "Think back to the weeks leading up to the draw. It was another hot one – perhaps you went out for cooling drinks or an ice lolly and took a chance on a Lotto Lucky Dip? Did you stash your ticket in some shorts pocket or a picnic bag?"
"Tell your friends, ask your family, check in with colleagues, someone out there is sitting on a life-changing £1M and doesn’t even know it. It could be you."
Deadline for claiming prize
The ticket-holder has until midnight on February 1 to claim their prize.
Allwyn UK boss to step down
News of the appeal comes as it was announced that Allwyn UK's boss, Andria Vidler, is to step down next month. Ms Vidler will leave her role as chief executive in September after an agreement was reached with UK chairman Justin King. She will be replaced by Phil Walker on an interim basis from September 7. He joins Allwyn UK from betting shop chain William Hill.
The company said Mr Walker’s appointment will help drive forward a new phase of growth for the business while it searches for a permanent successor. Ms Vidler said she decided it was the "right moment" to hand over to a new boss to drive growth after the completion of a major tech upgrade to the lottery.
She took the helm at Allywn’s UK in October 2023, before the company took over from Camelot to run the lottery in early 2024. The start of her tenure was dogged by legal issues involving the Gambling Commission’s decision to award Allwyn the 10-year licence, which caused delays to its switch to a new technology provider but were found to be outside Allywn’s control.
It also delayed plans for new draw-based games and held back the amount of money the National Lottery can give to good causes in the early part of the licence. This year, Allywn completed the lengthy £450million major tech upgrade to the lottery, which involved moving 18 million player records and more than three billion historical transactions from old platforms to new ones, updating the lottery website and mobile apps, as well as transforming the technology used by retail partners.
It also paved the way for the group to unveil the biggest overhaul to its draw-based Lotto game since its launch in 1994 and the first new draw-based game in the National Lottery’s history this summer, with the launch of the UK-specific version of the world’s biggest jackpot game, Powerball.
