‘The man who nearly lost £76m’: Self-employed builder, 51, who took six weeks to claim Britain’s 12th biggest lottery jackpot has already bought two cars and a house after his family nagged him into searching for the ticket he left in his van
- Self-employed builder Andrew Clark, 51, won £76 million EuroMillions jackpot
- Announced he will take early retirement after finding ticket in visor of his van
- He has bought two cars and house since he found out he was a winner last week
- Mr Clark scooped 12th biggest win ever in UK after buying ticket in Post Office
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A self-employed builder has today been named as the winner of a £76 million EuroMillions jackpot that went unclaimed for six weeks after he left it in his van.
Andrew Clark, from Boston in Lincolnshire, scooped the 12th biggest win ever in the UK after buying the winning ticket in his local Post Office.
Christmas has come early for the 51-year-old, who announced he will be taking early retirement after finding the ticket stuffed in the visor of his Peugeot van.
Referring to himself as ‘the man who nearly lost £76 million’, the grandfather-of-three revealed he ‘stockpiled lottery tickets in his Peugeot Expert’ and only checked after his girlfriend urged him to.
Mr Clark has bought a house, a Mercedes-Benz AMG C 63 and a Nissan Qashqai since he found out he was the winner last week, and said he and his family will enjoy dinner in a restaurant in Skegness on New Year’s Eve.
The builder said despite his £76million haul, he will continue to play the lottery.
Andrew Clark, 51, from Boston in Lincolnshire has been named as the winner of the £76 million EuroMillions jackpot
Referring to himself as ‘the man who nearly lost £76 million’, he said he realised he was the mystery winner after he ‘finally gave in’ and began working his way through his stash of tickets one evening
Christmas has come early for Mr Clark and his partner Trisha – but he revealed they would be staying the UK over the festive period and enjoying New Year’s Eve in Skegness
Andrew Clark with his partner Trisha Fairhurst, celebrating his £76,369,806.80 EuroMillions jackpot win
The ticket was bought from Eastwood Road Post Office in Boston on November 2
Self-employed Mr Clark revealed himself as the winner at a press conference in Grantham on Friday morning.
He said he and his family would remain in the UK over Christmas before enjoying a more lavish affair next year.
Self-employed Mr Clark revealed himself as the winner at a press conference in Grantham
Referring to himself as ‘the man who nearly lost £76 million’, he said he realised he was the mystery winner after he ‘finally gave in’ and began working his way through his stash of tickets one evening.
He and his partner, Trisha Fairhurst, 51, have already bought a new home and two cars but say ‘the best thing about the win is how we can help all our family’.
The grandfather-of-three said: ‘It almost feels like some magical Christmas story, the man who nearly lost £76 million! For all our family, I’m very pleased that Trisha and Louise nagged me to check those tickets.
‘This Christmas is going to be a quiet affair, but next year will be a different story. Trisha and I have this vision of hiring a big lodge or hotel so that the whole family can get together and swap stories about how they’ve spent their share over the past 12 months.
‘This win isn’t just about Christmas magic, it’s about creating a lifetime of magical moments for all those around us.’
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Mr Clark, who was urged to check his stash by his partner, said: ‘Trisha kept telling me to check the tickets, and her niece Louise, who I was building an extension for, was also in on it once she’d heard about the unclaimed prize in the news.
‘It was something of a standing joke that I had all these tickets while there was a local prize outstanding, so for weeks they were on at me to check.’
The ticket was bought from Eastwood Road Post Office in Boston on November 2.
Overwhelmed: The 51-year-old revealed he stuffed his winning ticket in the visor of his van
He and his partner, Trisha Fairhurst, 51, have already bought a new home and two cars but say ‘the best thing about the win is how we can help all our family’
It will be a very happy Christmas for Mr Clark, who is the recipient of the 12th biggest win ever in the UK
The biggest winners on the EuroMillions lottery so far in the UK were Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs, North Ayrshire, who took home £161 million in July 2011.
Earlier this year, one lucky ticket-holder, who chose to remain anonymous, banked a £121 million jackpot in April while another took home just over £77 million in February.
Fred and Lesley Higgins, from Aberdeenshire, scooped the £57 million jackpot in the draw on July 10.
Who is the biggest ever UK lottery winner? Two couples and a former car mechanic top list
Here are the six previous biggest UK winners of the EuroMillions draw so far
1. In July 2011, Colin and Chris Weir became Europe’s biggest lottery winners when they scooped more than £161million.
The couple, who have been married for 30 years, said they were ‘not scared’ of the wealth because they were going to have ‘so much fun’ with the money.
The pair, a retired TV cameraman and a retired psychiatric nurse, from Largs, in Ayrshire, said their children Carly, a photography student, and Jamie, a call centre worker, would be bought their own homes and cars.
The family made a £1million donation to the SNP shortly after winning.
Colin and Chris Weir became Europe’s biggest lottery winners when they scooped more than £161million in 2011
2. Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012.
The marriage ended just 15 months into their new jackpot winning lives, citing the stress of the money as the reason they needed to split.
At the time, a spokesman for Mrs Bayford said: ‘Gillian Bayford confirms that her marriage to Adrian has broken down irretrievably and they have separated.’
It came after Mrs Bayford was forced to deny she had an affair with the couple’s gardener, Chris Tovey.
Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012
3. An unnamed ticket-holder claimed just over £113million in October 2010, and chose not go public.
4. Neil Trotter, from south London, won nearly £108million, going from former car mechanic to multimillionaire in March 2014.
Neighbours in Croydon described he and partner Nicky Ottaway moved out ‘almost overnight’ after they scooped the EuroMillions jackpot last March.
Mr Trotter admitted at the time that he was like his namesake, Del Boy Trotter from Only Fools And Horses.
Neil Trotter, with partner Nicky Ottaway, won nearly £108million, going from former car mechanic to multimillionaire in March 2014
5. A couple from Cambridgeshire, Dave and Angela Dawes, won more than £101million on their third go on the EuroMillions draw in October 2011.
Mr Dawes said he ‘didn’t sleep a wink’ the night of the win, as it was too late to call Camelot after the couple checked their numbers.
Last year, the couple were taken to court by his son, an Afghanistan veteran, Michael Dawes, 32, who said he was ‘ungenerous in spirit’.
But a judge ruled the millionaire father does not need to keep bailing out his son, who burnt through £1.6million in two years, and came back for more, failing to heed his stepmother’s advice to stop eating at the Ritz and go to McDonald’s instead.
6. A UK winner got a £93 million payout in June 2015, but decided to remain anonymous.
Dave and Angela Dawes won more than £101million on their third go on the EuroMillions draw in October 2011
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