£1m Premium Bonds jackpot is won in Shropshire

A man from Shropshire has scooped the £1 million monthly Premium Bond jackpot – only the second time a county resident has won the top prize in almost 20 years.

The winner, whose identity has not been revealed, scooped the £1 million prize on a bond bought in February 2007.

In total, the man has £29,130 worth of bonds.

It is the first time the jackpot has been scooped by a county resident since 2007 – the only other time a local person has won the top prize since records became available in 1994.

Jonty Alone, a spokesman for National Savings and Investments, which runs the Premium Bonds scheme, said: "Premium Bonds are a unique and extremely popular way to save and we are delighted that our draw machine, ERNIE, has brought such good luck to a resident of Shropshire."

The mystery winner is not the only person who could be sitting on a goldmine.

NS&I also revealed that more than 3,000 prizes, worth a total of £162,000, remain unclaimed in Shropshire, while nationally £41 million is owed to 790,000 people who have failed to claim their prize.

One man from Shropshire is still due to receive £1,000 after failing to claim his prize in a previous draw in January 1987. It is one of several £1,000 prizes in the area which remain outstanding.

The oldest outstanding prize in the Shropshire area was drawn in April 1972, but attempts to trace the winners have so far been unsuccessful.