Lotto ticket sales soar ahead of record £50.4m jackpot

The UK's biggest ever Lotto jackpot is creating a surge in ticket sales as ticket-buyers are promised the record prize must be either won or shared on Wednesday night.

An estimated £50.4 million prize is up for grabs with National Lottery operator Camelot saying it expects to sell 200 tickets a second during the hour before the the draw.

The main lottery prize has not been won in weeks, rolling over in 13 consecutive draws since 18 November.

The previous highest jackpot stood at £42 million and was shared by three winners in 1996.

The UK's biggest ever Lotto jackpot is sending ticket sales soaring ahead of an estimated £50.4 million up for grabs. Credit: PA Wire

Camelot said new rules would make it "some of the best odds players have ever had to win a multi-million pound life changing jackpot".

The number of balls in the draw increased from 49 to 59 in October, which reduced the odds on a player's six numbers coming up from around one in 14 million to one in 45 million.

Camelot has claimed the changes actually give a better chance of winning and better odds of becoming a millionaire but the move has not been popular with all players.

The National Lottery operator has said that if no one wins the jackpot, it will enact new regulations meaning that the prize must be shared out.

The rules state that the jackpot has to be won in the first draw after it reaches £50 million.

This means that if no players get all six numbers, the prize will be shared between winners in the next tier where there is at least one winner, most likely those who have just five main numbers and the bonus ball.

The biggest cheque won on a single Lotto ticket was £22.5 million which was shared by work colleagues Mark Gardiner and Paul Maddison from Hastings in 1995.

The biggest ever individual Lotto winner is Iris Jeffrey from Belfast who won £20.1 million in 2004.

Where are the luckiest places to buy a lottery ticket?

Romford is top of the list when it comes to the luckiest place to play the lottery, followed by Sunderland.

In 2013 the National Lottery ranked postcodes by the number of major prize wins of £50,000 and about, per head of the population since the lottery began.

Here is the list of the luckiest postcodes:

  • 1 - Romford (RM)

  • 2 - Sundaerland (SR)

  • 3 - Newcastle (NE)

  • 4 - Liverpool (L)

  • 5 - Enfield (EN)

  • 6 - Warrington (WA)

  • 7 - Bromley (BR)

  • 8 - Wolverhampton (WV)

  • 9 - Dartford (DA)

  • 10 - Dundee (DD)

  • (National Lottery, May 2013)