Greater Manchester Lotto players urged to ‘check tickets’ as £1m prize unclaimed

The player has until December to come forward and claim their cash

The National Lottery is urging players across Greater Manchester to check their tickets carefully after someone in Tameside won a life-altering £1M prize.

The missing ticket-holder purchased their winning Lotto ticket in the Borough of Tameside for a draw on July 1, 2025. The player matched five main numbers and the bonus ball to secure the £1m prize.

The winning numbers in ‘Round 2’ of the Lotto draw were 5, 8, 26, 33, 39, 42 and the Bonus Ball was 54 and the lucky ticket-holder has until midnight on 28 December 2026, to claim their prize.

Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter

Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery said, “We’re urging anyone who may have bought a ticket in the Borough of Tameside for the Lotto draw on Wednesday 1 July to check their tickets carefully.

“Think about what you were doing in the days leading up to the draw – the UK was in the midst of a heatwave, with many people enjoying the sunshine, planning days out and making the most of the warm weather.”

Mr Carter continued: “Thinking about where you were and what you were doing at the time could help jog your memory. We want nothing more than to reunite the lucky ticket-holder with their life-changing Lotto prize.”

Since the Lotto draw unveiled its new two-round format, every £2 Lotto line now gives players double the chances to win, all for the same price and with the same number of balls to choose from.

The changes is expected to create hundreds more millionaires each year, with players’ chances of winning any prize improving from 1 in 9.3 to 1 in 4.9.

Anyone not in possession of their ticket, for whatever reason, but who believes they have a genuine claim can still make a claim in writing to Allwyn, but it must be within 30 days of the draw.