CHECK your purse or wallet because it could be you missing out on a fortune.

That’s the message from National Lottery bosses who have revealed someone in the Vale of White Horse District Council area has a winning ticket for £956,813.

So far, no-one has claimed the winning ticket and if the holder fails to claim the prize for the Lotto draw within 180 days, the money will be distributed to good causes.

Lottery spokesman Paul Lisoire said the total jackpot on December 18 – when Oxfordshire was brought to a standstill by heavy snow – was £4.7m.

He added: “The winning numbers were 9, 21, 35, 38, 46 and 49 and the prize was split five ways with each person winning £956,813.

“Someone in the Vale has still not come forward.”

He added: “When we make appeals for people to check to see if they have won they are usually very successful.

“It is very rare that prizes go unclaimed but it can happen – a £1m prize expired on Wednesday in central Bedfordshire.

“We are not saying where in the Vale the ticket was bought because if it was bought in a small community we could compromise that person’s anonymity.

“If the ticket holder comes forward and decides to go public about winning then all the details would then come out about where they bought the ticket and why they chose those numbers.

“The ticket could have been bought in the run-up to December 18 but the majority of people buy a ticket on the day of the draw or the day before.

“The vendor of the winning ticket will not know they have sold the winning ticket until the winner comes forward and decides to go for publicity.

“There was a lot of snow in Oxfordshire on the day of the draw and Christmas was probably on people’s minds.

“I hope that will remind people that they bought a ticket and it’s worth checking to see if they are the winner.”

Daniel Pullen, 23, who works at West End News in the Bury Street precinct in Abingdon, said: “The run-up to Christmas was a very busy period for people buying Lottery tickets.

“It would be great if it turns out we have sold the winning ticket.

“Someone won £900 last year after buying a ticket here but I don’t know if there have been any bigger prizes.”