$18m Lotto prize claimed

A "stunned and surprised" family from the upper North Island has stepped forward to claim the record $18 million Lotto Powerball jackpot prize .

NZ Lotteries Deputy Chief Executive Warren Salisbury said while the rest of the nation speculated about who had won the huge windfall, the winners had remained oblivious to their windfall.

The family, who wish to remain anonymous, said they had not seen the draw, or heard any of the media coverage and did not know where it had been sold.

They said: "Out of the blue we got a call from a relative who had heard the winning ticket was sold in Kaeo.

"We quickly asked him to check the numbers for us on teletext.

"Initially he read a number out incorrectly, so we thought we'd had a good Second Division Powerball win.

"But then we got the correct numbers, and could not believe it when they matched ours. We had to check the ticket five or six times."

"It really hasn't sunk in yet, we are absolutely stunned. We are just ordinary people but now we get to live an extraordinary life."

The $17,992,975 prize is the biggest ever paid out by NZ Lotteries on a single ticket.

The prize is made up of $17,702,362 from Powerball Division One and $290,613 from being a Division One Lotto winner.

The ticket was sold at Kaeo Four Square in Northland.

"We have a large, supportive family and we are really looking forward to some fun family times ahead," the winners said.

The family planned to help out a number of charities which were close to their hearts.

On finding out they had won the winners reacted by deciding to celebrate by going out to breakfast.

"We thought we'd go all out and buy the full breakfast."

Westpac bank spokesman Mark Watts said the family would earn $3450.71 per day in interest if they deposited the money in the bank's online saver account, at 7.1 per cent interest.

After a month the family could earn over $104,000 in interest before withholding tax, he said.

Until now, the largest Powerball prize ever won by an individual ticket was $15.2 won in September last year from a ticket bought in Mt Roskill, Auckland. The now third biggest Powerball prize was won by a ticket sold in Kawerau and was worth $14.7 million.

- NZPA