An innovative plan by lottery bosses to hunt down Fulham and Hammersmith's missing millionaire by placing an advert in the Chronicle's job section has failed.
Camelot, the lottery operator, had turned to the newspaper after a winning £1m EuroMillions ticket brought in the borough lay unclaimed with just a week remaining until the February 2 deadline.
It had posted an appeal in the style of a job vacancy in the recruitment section of the paper which told potential 'job-seekers' there was a 'life-changing role for the position of millionaire in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham'.
But the deadline passed without a claim and now the prize has been handed to good causes. A National Lottery spokesperson 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 they have missed out, but there is still one winner – the nation. This money will now go to the Good Causes, adding to the £25 billion which, over the last 16 years, has funded the biggest programme of civic regeneration seen in the UK since the 19 th Century.”
