THE North-East winner of an unclaimed £226,555 National Lottery prize has come forward in the nick of time.

The Lotto player scooped the prize after picking five numbers and the bonus ball on a ticket bought in the Durham and Chester-le-Street area for a Saturday draw at the end of November.

But it went unclaimed until just before last week's claim deadline.

Lotto operator Camelot enlisted the help of Durham town crier Colin Beswick and North-East TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss to publicise the looming deadline - and it did the trick.

The ticket holder got in touch and the money is in his or her pocket rather than going to the good causes that benefit from the game.

The company said the winner wanted to remain anonymous and would not say exactly where they were from.

Spokeswoman Jacquie Wilson said: "We're delighted that the winner of this prize has now come forward. It would have been awful if the ticket holder had missed out.

"We do hope that they enjoy their win and remind all Lotto players to check their tickets every time they play."