Time ticks away for £1.5m winner

A lottery winner from Kent has only a few days to claim £1.5m

A lottery jackpot winner from Kent has less than two weeks to claim the £1.5m prize or lose it forever.

National Lottery operator Camelot said the ticket was bought in the Swale area and was a winner in July. The prize must be claimed by 17 January.

Camelot said more than £16.3m in prizes has still not been claimed from 2004.

A £2.8m winner from Wyre, Lancashire, has until 24 January to claim and one from Belfast has until 3 February to collect a £7m Lotto Extra jackpot.

"We hear of many reasons why people don't come forward - they accidentally throw away their tickets, they don't check their tickets properly or the lose them," said Fabian Devlin, of Camelot.

"Our advice to players for 2005 is to keep your lottery tickets safe, check them after each draw and avoid missing out on a fortune."