Somebody in the district could be sitting on a seven-figure fortune without realising it.

National Lottery bosses want to trace the owner of a big-winning ticket that was bought in the Forest of Dean last month.

The search is now on to find the owner of the winning ticket, bought in the Forest, who matched five main numbers and the Bonus Ball in the Lotto draw on Saturday, October 22 2022.

The winning Lotto numbers on that date were 11, 33, 42, 56, 58, 59 and the Bonus Ball was 34.

The lucky ticket-holder has until April 20 2023 to claim their £1 million.

Anyone who thinks they have a genuine claim but for whatever reason does not have a ticket can make their case to Lotto operators Camelot.

There is a 30-day limit on such claims meaning they would have to be made before Monday, November 21.

Camelot’s Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery said: “We’re desperate to find this mystery ticket-holder and unite them with their winnings.

“This amazing prize could really make a huge difference to somebody’s life – we’re urging everyone who bought a ticket in this area to check their old Lotto tickets again - the easiest way to do this is to scan your ticket via the National Lottery app - and look anywhere a missing ticket could be hiding.

“Try checking in the pockets of clothing, in wallets, bags and down the back of the sofa. We have the champagne on ice and our fingers crossed that the lucky winner comes forward to claim their win.”

Players can buy and check their tickets online by downloading the National Lottery app or at national-lottery.co.uk. Players can also buy and check tickets in shops.

If no-one comes forward with the winning ticket before the prize claim deadline, then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated, will go to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.

With all National Lottery draws, players have 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their prize if they have the winning ticket.

Anyone who believes they have the winning ticket for any of the National Lottery draws within the 180-day deadline should call the National Lottery Line on 0333 234 5050 or email [email protected].

More than £30 million is generated each week for National Lottery-funded projects.

Since the Lottery began in 1994, more than £46 billion has been raised for good causes with more than 670,000 individual grants awarded.