A McDonald’s employee claims she holds a winning ticket from the Mega Millions jackpot worth $640m (€480m) — and is refusing to share her winnings with her syndicate colleagues.

The largest lottery jackpot in US history — a whopping $656mn (€492m) — will be shared by the buyers of three winning Mega Millions tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland, but their identities remained a mystery, lottery officials said on Saturday.

Lottery ticket-holders in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland each selected the winning numbers for the world record-breaking $640m Mega Millions jackpot, officials have said.

A winning ticket for last night's record US Mega Millions lottery ticket has been sold in Maryland - and there could be others nationwide, organisers said.