Lottery fever grips Italy

Lottery fever is seizing Italy as the draw approaches tonight for a record €131.5m jackpot.

It has even spread beyond national boundaries with one German newspaper flying readers to the country to play..

Bild said the 140 passengers aboard a Berlin-to-Milan jet were the winners of a phone-in contest for the free airline tickets.

No one has picked the winning combination of six numbers since January, and now the jackpot is Italy’s biggest ever in the Superenalotto draw.

Draws are held three times a week, and lately tourists from bordering France as well as tourists have been driving into Italy to snatch up tickets.

Meanwhile Austrians, Croats and Slovenes were “storming” across the border to try their luck.