Christmas may come early for £1 million Shropshire lottery winner
Yes, it's a Christmas picture in August - but there's a really good reason for it.
For one lucky person in Shropshire will get a £1 million early present if they find their winning Lottery ticket and claim its £1,045,504 prize.
But if they don't claim by Christmas Day, their jackpot, plus all the interest it has generated, will go to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.
The winning ticket came from the Lotto draw on June 28 this year with the numbers 8, 12, 28, 30, 43 and 49.
Lottery organisers Camelot say the ticket was bought in Shropshire, but the lucky buyer has yet to come forward.
And in a bid to jog the winner's memory by the December 25 deadline, Camelot enlisted the help of Santa who broke off from his summer holiday to visit Telford with his elves yesterday.
A National Lottery spokesman said: "We're eager to find the mystery ticket-holder and unite them with their winnings before Christmas Day – this amazing prize could really make a huge difference to somebody's life.
"We're urging everyone who bought a Lotto ticket in this area to check their old tickets again or 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 – someone out there could literally be sitting on a fortune.
"We have the champagne on ice and our fingers crossed that the lucky winner comes forward to claim their win."
To help jog players' memories about what was happening on the day of the Lotto draw in question, Brazil beat Chile on penalties in the second round of the World Cup while Colombia knocked out Uruguay.
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 0845 910 0000.
