The holder of a British lottery ticket worth nearly £10-million (about R109-million) lost it all on Monday, when the six-month deadline for claiming the winnings expired.
He or she had until 5.30pm local time to collect, or forfeit the entire amount.
Most likely, the unlucky winner, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire in northern England, simply forgot to check the ticket, bought on July 6 last year, which would have made him or her £9 476 995 richer.
According to lottery rules, if winners fails to recoup their bounty within six months, the money is automatically given to a charitable organisation.
Had the ticket holder placed his or her windfall into a savings account immediately, a British newspaper calculated, an extra £300 000 in interest would have accrued.
The largest unclaimed lottery prize in Britain to date has been £7-million. But in the 11 year history of the lottery only 23 winning tickets with a value of a million pounds or more have been left unclaimed. — AFP