ONE lottery winner in South Somerset has missed out on a £100,000 fortune after the deadline to claim the grand prize passed at midnight.

The deadline to claim the Millionaire Raffle prize from August 27, 2016, passed last night (Thursday, February 23).

A spokesman for Camelot Lotteries said: “The ticket-holder bought their Lotto ticket in South Somerset and the deadline for the ticket-holder to claim their prize was at midnight on Thursday, February 23, 2017.

“The one-off Lotto draw was held to thank National Lottery players for the support they have given Team GB through playing the lottery.

“As the deadline has now passed the money, plus the interest it earned, has now gone to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.

“The National Lottery changes lives of individuals as well as communities. Players raise on average, more than £30million for National Lottery-funded projects every week.”

Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery said: “Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money. To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis.

“We tried very hard to find the ticket-holder and it’s a real shame that they have missed out, but there is still one winner – the nation. This money, and all the interest earned over the 180 days, will now go to benefit projects all over the UK funded by The National Lottery.”

Since 1994, £36billion has been raised by National Lottery players, which has been awarded to National Lottery-funded projects across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors.

The National Lottery has invested more than £5billion in grassroots sport to date, supporting more than 150 different sports.

There have been more than 1,000 projects in South Somerset made possible by The National Lottery, including at Crewkerne RFC, where £3,550 of National Lottery funding has funded the youth and community rugby development programme.