A lottery loser has missed out on a prize of more than £70,000.

A EuroMillions ticket bought in the Shepway district in March has gone unclaimed for six months.

Today, Camelot, operator of The National Lottery, announced that the deadline for claiming the £72,422 prize has now passed.

A National Lottery spokesman said: “Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money.

“To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis.”

Camelot previously appealed for players to check their tickets from the Friday, March 6 draw in a bid to track down the winner.

The numbers in the draw were 23, 30, 47, 49, 50 and the Lucky Star numbers were 2 and 7.

As the deadline has now passed the money, plus the interest it earned, will now go towards helping National Lottery-funded projects.

The spokesman added: “We tried very hard to find the ticket-holder and it’s a real shame that they have missed out, but there is still one winner – the nation.

“This money, and all the interest earned over the 180 days, will now go to benefit projects all over the UK funded by The National Lottery.”