The owner of a £1million-winning EuroMillions ticket bought in Huntingdonshire did not come forward to claim their prize before yesterday’s (Wednesday) deadline, the National Lottery has announced.

The ticket, which successfully matched the Millionaire Maker prize code from the December 16 draw, expired at midnight on June 14 and the money will now go to a charity fund managed by lottery operator, Camelot.

Every week EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker guarantees to create four millionaires – two on Tuesday and two on Friday. For every EuroMillions line played, UK players automatically receive a UK Millionaire Maker code printed on their ticket.

As the 180-day deadline has now passed, the money, plus the interest it earned, has now gone to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.

Since 1994 some £37 billion has been raised by National Lottery players, which has been awarded to National Lottery-funded projects across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors.

Life-changing projects in the Huntingdonshire which have received lottery funds include:

Life After Debt/Life Amidst Debt: National Lottery funding of £9,500 has been used to provide a money management debt advice service for the benefit of the residents of a local social housing group.

Huntingdon Gymnastics Club: £49,150 of National Lottery funding to one of the area’s pre-eminent gymnastics clubs has been used to help refurbish this world class facility.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ advisor at the National Lottery, said: “Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money.

“To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis.

“We tried very hard to find the ticket-holder and it’s a real shame that they have missed out, but there is still one winner – the nation. This money, and all the interest earned over the 180 days, will now go to benefit projects all over the UK funded by the National Lottery.”

Anyone who has any queries or who believes they have the winning ticket for any of the National Lottery draws within the 180-day deadline should call the National Lottery Line on 0844 338 7551 or e-mail help@national-lottery.co.uk.