The clock really is ticking for a mystery local lottery winner in Southend who has just over a month left to claim an amazing EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker prize worth £1,000,000.

The last-ditch search is still on to find the owner of the winning ticket from the EuroMillions draw on 4 October 2016 – bought in Southend – with the winning UK Millionaire Maker code JFZD 09681.

The lucky ticket-holder only has until 2 April 2017 to make their claim.

With just a month to go National Lottery players are being urged to check and double-check their tickets one last time for the chance to claim this life-changing prize.

Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery said: “Time really is running out for the winner of this prize, but we are still hopeful that someone will come forward at the very last minute to claim the money.

"We’re urging everyone to check their old tickets one final time or look anywhere a missing EuroMillions ticket could be hiding. This life-changing prize could really help to make dreams become a reality for someone out there.”

If no-one comes forward with the winning ticket before the prize claim deadline, then the prize money, plus all the interest it has generated, will go to help National Lottery-funded projects across the UK.

The National Lottery changes the lives of individuals as well as communities – players raise, on average, over £30 million for National Lottery-funded projects every week.

In Southend alone over 560 individual National Lottery grants have been awarded to help projects across the arts, sports, heritage, health, education, environment, charity and voluntary sectors.

With all National Lottery draws, players have 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their prize if they have the winning ticket.

Anyone who has any queries or 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 0844 338 7551 or email help@national-lottery.co.uk