Winning Lotto ticket in Hamilton man's desk drawer for six months

A Hamilton man found a lost Lotto ticket in his desk drawer, worth more than $300,000. Photo / File

After six months, a Hamilton man finally tracked down a lost Lotto ticket in his work desk - nabbing the $333,333 prize.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the ticket at Mill Street Pak'n Save in Hamilton in March.

He then put it somewhere safe - and promptly forgot about it.

It wasn't until earlier this month, when he heard a big prize from his local store remained unclaimed, that he thought he had better track down his ticket.

"I knew I had bought a ticket from that store, so when I heard that no one had claimed the prize yet, I thought there was a good chance I could be the winner," he said.

"I just had a lucky feeling I couldn't shake, so I started searching everywhere for it - in my car, all over my house, but I just couldn't find it anywhere."

But his luck changed last weekend, when he popped into work.

"I had to go and collect something from work and decided I may as well clean out my desk drawer while I was there. I pulled out a handful of old receipts, then I saw my Lotto wallet buried beneath all the junk. I quickly grabbed it and when I opened it up, there was my missing Lotto ticket."

He jumped online to check his ticket.

"I must've checked my ticket about 10 times, I just couldn't believe I had actually won. I was so happy - I started jumping around the office. Luckily for me no one else was in on Saturday," he said.

With his winning ticket in hand, the man called his wife to share the good news.

"She thought I was joking - she just wouldn't believe me. It wasn't until she saw all those zeros in our bank account that she realised I wasn't having her on."

The couple plan to use their newfound fortune to pay off some bills and splurge on a family holiday.

"We have wanted to go on a family holiday for a while and now we can afford to do it with a bit of luxury - we can't wait."