Lotto winner held on to ticket for 4 days

A $200,000 Wellington Lotto winner kept his winning ticket in his old car for four days before getting around to claiming the prize.

NZ Lotteries said the single Wellington man bought his ticket from J'Mall Lotto but only realised he could have the winning ticket when he read Monday's Dominion Post.

"I knew I had bought a ticket from one of the stores that had sold a prize, so when I got home from work I immediately checked my number," the man said in a Lotteries statement.

''Sure enough, I had won, but I didn't really believe it was true."

He kept his winning ticket in a bag inside his car whilst he was at work during the week and claimed his prize today.

"I have an old car that is not worth anything, so I thought that it would be safe in there as no one would want to steal it."

He said he would use the money to pay off a chunk of his mortgage.

- © Fairfax NZ News