£641m lotto winnings go unclaimed

Prizes totalling £641million have gone unclaimed since the National Lottery was set up a decade ago.

With dozens of ticket owners failing to come forward, the cash has gone instead into a fund for good causes.

The figure emerged yesterday as time was running out for holders of two winning tickets, bought for the Valentine's Day draw, to come forward.

They could each be £59,728 richer - as long as they make their claims by Thursday next week.

The tickets were bought separately in Hillingdon and Ealing, West London.

Lucky numbers in the draw were 14, 15, 17, 31, 39, 45, with the bonus 23.

Normally, prizes go unclaimed for a variety of reasons, such as people going on holiday and forgetting they bought a ticket. Others are simply lost down the back of a sofa or shoved in the pocket of an old pair of jeans, said Camelot.

But the prize tickets for the February 14 draw might have been bought as secret romantic gifts, suggested a spokesman for the Lottery operator.

'Perhaps they have become the sad side-effect of unrequited love,' he said.

'It does go to show that the simplest and sweetest of gifts, a Lotto ticket featuring numbers that are special for you, can bring joy unimaginable.'

He added: 'Whatever the reason, we are keen for winners to come forward and claim what's theirs.

'We think six months is a reasonable amount of time to come forward and claim your prize.'