Town is keen to identify winner

CURIOSITY is rife in a small town in the Midi-Pyrénées after it was revealed the winner of the December 21 Euro Millions jackpot is one of the shopkeepers there.

The winner of nearly €102 million in the draw on the day when rumour had it the world was going to end, is one of some 220 traders in Revel, near Toulouse.

He has said, anonymously, that he plans to keep on working, for the time being at least, while he thinks over his win and his priorities. He wants to make sure he “maintains the family harmony of our current life,” he told the lottery organisers Française des Jeux.

The president of the local traders’ association told France Info: “It’s got us all thinking. We are starting to have some suspicions and we have two or three names in mind.”

The winner is known to be a family man, who has been using the same birthday dates as his lottery numbers since 1976 for the Loto and for Euro Millions since 2004.

The tobacconists/newsagent from whom he bought the winning ticket reports a boost in business. “Everyone is keen to be around me, as if I bring good luck,” he said.

The winner told lottery organisers FDJ that he found out he had won while watching the draw on France 2. He said he “didn’t sleep all that night, working out what I could do with a figure like that”.

He added: “At first I said to myself it was 100 million-euro apartments; then I thought ‘what would I do with 100 apartments?”

While he decides what to do with it, he has reportedly banked the cheque, which should give him around €10,000 a day in interest alone. His win has made him the 320th richest person in France.

The family will be staying in the region that “they love”, the winner said, and he will carry on playing the Loto and Euro Millions.