Couple realized that won £1 million in lottery after two months

A couple who forgot to check their lottery ticket for two months have finally claimed their £1 million EuroMillions Raffle jackpot. Alan and Kim Elliott, from Aspley, Nottingham, bought the winning lucky dip ticket for the EuroMillions draw on March 23 from J&S News in Nuthall Road in the city but stuck it on their fridge and only remembered to check it last week.

It is the fourth lottery jackpot to be won in Nottinghamshire since the start of the year.

Mr Elliott, 46, who works for a building firm, said: ''I was only talking with my colleagues about what we'd do if we won the lottery not knowing that sitting in my kitchen was a real life-changing slip of paper.''

The couple, who celebrated the win with a Chinese takeaway and a bottle of champagne, have not got any firm plans on how to spend the money just yet - but Mr Elliott said he would be buying a Range Rover and hoping to spend a little more time on the golf course.

The pair, whose names were revealed at a press conference at Eastwood Hall near Nottingham, said they would continue to work following the win.
Mr Elliott only found out he had won after taking a batch of tickets to his local newsagents to check as usual after seeing a TV advert for the £70 million EuroMillions rollover.

He said the shop assistant checked the tickets and asked him to ''sit down and stay calm''.

''I thought she was pulling my leg but her boss came over and called Camelot for me as I couldn't think.

''I couldn't even write my name I was shaking so much.''

Afterwards, he got his son Liam, 16, to check the numbers again on the internet and saw their was an unclaimed ticket in Nottingham.

Mrs Elliott, 45, who works for East Midlands Ambulance Service, refused to believe they had won even when she saw the winning ticket.

Her boss allowed her to leave work early to celebrate and the couple went to their 23-year-old daughter Natalie's house.

The win comes after Jim Emerton, 56, and his wife Maureen, 55, from Carlton in Nottingham, scooped a £4,449,039 prize after matching all six numbers in a Lotto draw in March.

Gareth and Catherine Bull, from Mansfield, banked £40,627,241 on January 20, while Cassey Carrington and Matt Topham, both 22 and from Stapleford, took home £45,160,170.50 after winning on February 7.

For every EuroMillions line played, UK players automatically receive a EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle selection printed on their ticket.

Anyone who matches the unique Millionaire Raffle number at the bottom of the ticket wins £1 million.


/telegraph.co.uk/