A stg£20 million lottery ticket was tonight finally handed in after an appeal was issued by the organisers of the British national lottery, Camelot.
It is not clear whether one person or a syndicate has scooped the prize. However if the ticket was bought in Northern Ireland by one person, the £20,100,472 jackpot will be the biggest prize yet won by an individual.
A Camelot spokesman said: "All we can say at this stage is that the winning ticket has been claimed. More details will emerge in due course."
Earlier this week, Camelot set a January 10th deadline for the ticket-holder to collect the winnings. Winners have 180 days to come forward to claim their prize before the money goes into a fund to benefit good causes.
The winning numbers on the ticket, which was bought on July 14 th, were 6, 27, 33, 38, 45 and 47. Former Belfast bus driver Mr Peter Lavery was the biggest lottery winner from Northern Ireland, landing more than £10 million in 1996.
In April this year, a Wiltshire family claimed a £14.2 million lottery prize more than a fortnight after their numbers came up in the draw. They missed out, however, on about £20,000 interest for the days the prize was unclaimed.