Could you be the missing £1m Preston Lotto winner?

Now Camelot, which runs the National Lottery, has erected a gold plaque in the city centre to tell more people: “It could be you next.”

“If I lived in Preston I’d be buying a ticket,” said Andy Carter, who advises the big winners how to cope with their new-found riches. “Winning seems to happen in clusters and Preston is the place to be right now.”

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In total the city’s PR postcode has seen 277 major winners of more than £50,000 each in the 21 years of the Lottery.

But a £1m prize from the Euromillions draw on January 5 still remains unclaimed. The ticket was bought in Preston and the owner has less than six weeks left to cash it in.

The prize has remained in the bank since January 5 and Camelot, who run the draw, today warned the cash will go to good causes if it isn’t won by July 7.

The alert came as Preston was officially declared the luckiest place in Lancashire with its magnificent seven millionaires since 2014 and a total of 277 major winners in more than 21 years of Lottery draws.

Andy Carter, who advises winners how to cope with wealth beyond their wildest dreams, said: “If I lived in Preston I’d be buying a ticket.”

Since the first National Lottery in November 1994 punters in Preston have been winning an average of one £50,000-plus prize every four or five weeks.

“The city has a great record for winning on the Lottery, especially in the past two years,” said Andy, whose biggest winners to date have been Colin and Christine Weir from Scotland who scooped £161m on Euromillions in 2011 – the UK’s largest-ever prize.

“Winning seems to happen in clusters.

“No-one knows quite why it happens like that.

“But the Lottery has created numerous millionaires in Preston.

“We are still looking for a £1m ticket which was issued in Preston in January and still hasn’t surfaced. They are fast running out of time.”

A gold Lottery plaque was put up in the city’s Markets Quarter yesterday afternoon reminding people just how lucky Preston is.

It came two months after a gold Aston Martin supercar was rolled out at the same spot alerting shoppers to the fact that the £1m ticket still hadn’t been found.

“My job of advising big winners isn’t a bad old life, said Andy.

“You are holding someone’s hand at probably the most exciting time of their lives.

“Everyone talks about what they will do when they win the Lottery, but the overwhelming number are remarkably sensible once reality has set in.

“They do things like paying off the mortgage and making provision for their children, as well as helping out friends and relatives.

“It would be great if, whoever bought that £1m ticket in Preston in January, finds it under a cushion or in the back of a drawer and claims it before the deadline.”