Hours Remain For Missing Millionaire To Come Forward And Claim Lottery Prize

A £12m lottery prize will be lost forever if it is not claimed before a deadline elapses tonight.  (Guys check your lottery tickets, and please remember moi if you win, wink!)

The winning EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle ticket, worth £1m a month for a year, was bought on Friday, May 31 in the Ladywood district of Birmingham, one of the poorest areas in the country.

If the prize remains unclaimed by 11pm the money will go to charitable causes.

The winning raffle number is JRG437445, but Camelot will not say where exactly it was bought.

Patrick Lisoire, from Camelot, says they are not giving up hope yet.

Birmingham's mayor has been involved in the search for the winner

He said: "A prize in the Midlands of about £2.5m a few years back was claimed in the last 24 hours before the deadline.

"So that's 179 days elapsed before the claimant claimed their prize. We never knew the reason why they took so long."

The search for the winner has been ongoing for several months, with various publicity campaigns in the Birmingham area.

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Mike Leddy, started a countdown clock in the city centre earlier this week and National Lottery workers walked the streets handing out leaflets.

Lottery workers have been handing out flyers in the city

Lottery organisers say if the winner is a football fan they may remember that the EuroMillions draw was sandwiched between England's two international friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and Brazil.

If unclaimed, the £12m prize will become the second highest uncollected lottery jackpot. In December 2012, £64m of winnings went to charitable causes.

Anyone 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 0845 910 0000 or email help@national-lottery.co.uk.