Mayo farmer claims €1m after leaving lottery ticket in unlocked car

The winning ticket had been in the unlocked car overnight.

A farmer from Claremorris, Co. Mayo, checked his lottery numbers yesterday before realising he had left his ticket in his car - which was unlocked since Monday.

Luckily, his ticket was still there and, even more fortunately, it had the winning numbers.

The married man won €1m in the National Lottery’s Daily Million game on Monday night with a €1.50 Quick Pick ticket bought in Centra, Main Street, Balla, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.

The delighted man, celebrating his win with a glass of champagne at National Lottery offices today, said: "Yesterday I heard that a winning ticket was sold in Balla, where I bought my Daily Million ticket.

"The ticket had been laying in the car since Monday, which was unlocked. So I looked the numbers up on the Lottery website and then went out to the car to get the ticket. When I saw the first number, I just knew - I was delighted.

"It’s an amazing feeling when your six numbers match up. I can’t describe it - it’s like a dream!"

The happy man plans to put the cheque in the bank and think about how he'll spend his winnings.

He said: "There’ll be a few things - holidays, maybe a new car, and we’ll put the kids through their education."