Euromillions: Unclaimed winning £41m ticket bought in Dorset

Players are being urged to "check, double-check and triple-check" their tickets

The winner of an unclaimed National Lottery jackpot prize of almost £41m is being sought, having so far failed to come forward.

The ticket from the Euromillions draw on Tuesday, 3 December, worth £40,957,696.60, was bought somewhere in Dorset, the National Lottery said.

The operator urged players to "check, double-check and triple-check" their tickets.

The winning numbers were 18, 31, 32, 38 and 48 with 4 and 12 as lucky stars.

National Lottery spokesman Patrick Lisoire said it was "not very common" to have such a large unclaimed prize.

"People are predisposed to checking the tickets they've bought, but for whatever reason - the busy lives we lead, or the lead-up to Christmas - somebody hasn't quite got round to checking their tickets."

He said the exact location of where the winning ticket was bought was not being revealed to protect the winner's identity.

It is the seventh Euromillions jackpot won in the UK this year.

The jackpot must be claimed within six months or the prize money, plus all interest generated, will go to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.

Tickets for Euromillions are sold in nine countries - the UK, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Irish Republic, Portugal and Switzerland - with ticket-holders in all those countries trying to win a share of the same jackpot each week.