Man ‘had no idea he had won €73m’

AN ALSACE man came within three weeks of missing out a €73million Euromillions jackpot, as he unknowingly carried the winning ticket in his wallet for more than a month.

The lucky winner is an online subscriber to the Europe-wide lottery, and hit the jackpot on December 2, but forgot to check his numbers as his family prepared for the Christmas celebrations.

With the clock to the 60-day claim deadline ticking, he finally decided to check his numbers in early January. He believed he may have won €5,000 - only to be told that he had landed the biggest jackpot of 2014, and the seventh-highest single Euromillions win in France.

"It's a story with a happy ending," he told Francaise des Jeux. "To think that for more than a month I didn't realise I was carrying around a lottery ticket worth €73million in my wallet every day."

Despite his new wealth, the man said he would continue to play the lottery.

"I'm not a player I've never won anything," he said. "I was playing in the hope of winning a little something. Now I'll play because I know that anything is possible!"