£2.8m lottery fortune unclaimed

Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days

A National Lottery player from Lancashire has three weeks to claim a £2.8m jackpot prize.

The winner bought their Lotto ticket last July in the Wyre area - and has until 24 January to claim the money.

The cash will be donated to good causes if it is not claimed by the deadline, lottery organisers Camelot say.

Other unclaimed prizes include a £1.5m ticket bought in Kent and a £7m fortune yet to be claimed by a player who bought their ticket in Belfast.

Camelot say more than £16.3m of prizes have still not been snapped up from 2004. It is urging players to check their old tickets.

Fabian Devlin, of Camelot, said: "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 they lose them, to name just a few.

"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."