A record number of National Lottery players became millionaires in the last year, operator Camelot has revealed.
Some 358 ticket-holders received cheques for £1million or more in 2017, up from 347 in 2016, sharing £796million.
The year’s biggest prize was won by an anonymous EuroMillions player, who banked £87million in June, while in the same month another anonymous ticket-holder scooped the year’s largest Lotto win of £21.3million.
One lucky player could win an estimated £23.5million prize in Wednesday’s Lotto draw after the jackpot hit its cap.
A record number of National Lottery players became millionaires in the last year
If no players match all six numbers then the prize money will move down to the next winning tier – most likely five matching numbers plus the bonus ball.
Senior winners’ adviser Andy Carter said: ‘It’s been a non-stop year of millionaire-making which has kept the team here at Camelot busy, and we are guaranteed to have more with a giant must-be-won Lotto jackpot on Wednesday.’
A total of 782 people won £50,000 or more this year and Mr Carter said: ‘We have had the joy of meeting each of the 782 big winners and watching them start to enjoy their life-changing win.
The year’s biggest prize was won by an anonymous EuroMillions player, who banked £87 million in June
Catering was the luckiest profession this year, with big winners including a syndicate of six ‘Catering Girls’ (pictured) from Wales, who shared a £25 million EuroMillions jackpot in November
‘Seeing them change their life and the lives of friends and family around them is an amazing honour.’
Catering was the luckiest profession this year, with big winners including a syndicate of six ‘Catering Girls’ from Wales, who shared a £25million EuroMillions jackpot in November.
The six hospital cooks picked up more than £4m each and celebrated by quitting their £300-a-week jobs and splashing out on a Chinese takeaway.
Julie Saunders, 56, leader of the ‘Catering Girls’ syndicate said: ‘It is amazing. We all decided to retire on the spot’
Julie Saunders, 56, leader of the ‘Catering Girls’ syndicate said: ‘It is amazing. We all decided to retire on the spot.
‘It’s someone else’s turn to cook meals and serve them up to patients.’
Builders had the second most millionaires across the year, while last year’s top-ranking profession, drivers, were in third.
This year saw the 525,000th grant given to a National Lottery-funded project, while the total given to good causes across the country since 1994 increased to £37 billion.
Fifty-five-year-old care assistant Patricia Aldridge and her husband Robert (pictured) celebrated becoming millionaires this year after scooping the top prize of £1million on the Lucky Dip
Fifty-five-year-old care assistant Patricia Aldridge and her husband Robert also celebrated becoming millionaires this year after scooping the top prize of £1million on the Lucky Dip.
But the couple, who live in a £290,000 house in Slough, Berkshire, kept their feet firmly on the ground, saying the hefty sum ‘won’t change a thing’.
The mother-of-three worked a 12-hour stint at a Dementia and Alzheimer’s home in the area at over Christmas Day.