EuroMillions winner has hours to claim £58m otherwise jackpot goes to charity

A Euromillions winner in Britain has just hours to claim a prize of £58million as the midnight deadline looms.

The winning ticket from the March 17 draw was bought in South Ayrshire, Scotland, but if the whopping jackpot is not claimed by midnight it is lost forever.

A claim was made in April but bizarrely the winner has yet to come forward with their ticket so it can be validated by officials from lotto operator Camelot.

Winners have 180 days to come forward so they have just a few hours to ensure the £57,869,670 prize drops into their bank account.

The eye-watering sum will be added to National Lottery Project charity funds if it is not claimed by midnight.

Once the ticket has been validated and the money paid out the winner can decide whether to go public or not.

The winning numbers for the draw were 5, 7, 8, 16 and 20 with Lucky Stars 2 and 12.

A spokesman for Camelot said: "As with all major prizes, the claim goes through a rigorous validation process to ensure the prize can be paid under our game rules.

"If a valid claim is not received, the prize money is passed to good causes."

According to the National Lottery website the jackpot is one of 11 which have not been claimed but it is the largest.

After that the next highest unclaimed jackpot is £1m.

The biggest EuroMillions winners in the UK are from Scotland.

Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs in Ayrshire, scooped £161m in 2011.

The husband and wife, who have since divorced, were catapulted into the Sunday Times Rich List above Beatle Ringo Starr and Sir Tom Jones with their £161million win.

Married for 30 years and with two children, they bought a mansion - which they later upgraded to a bigger one nearby - and a fleet of cars.

Psychiatric nurse Mrs Weir, 55, and Mr Weir, 64, who worked as a TV cameraman and studio manager for 23 years, have made three £1million donations to the SNP since their win.

Football fan Mr Weir also helped refurbish Largs Thistle’s ground and gave more than £1million to Partick Thistle so they could set up a youth academy and clear debts.

And he and his wife gave £1million to the National Theatre of Scotland to help pay for a new HQ in Glasgow.

The couple also set up a charitable trust after their win, supporting Scottish-based community groups and charities.

The odds of choosing the right numbers in the twice weekly draw have been estimated at one in 140million.