A Meath man has claimed €500,000 after winning the Lotto plus 1 prize from June 4.

The man waited an astonishing 86 days to collect his prize, despite knowing he had the winning ticket, without checking until last week.

“It was a beautiful June bank holiday weekend, so on Saturday we decided to bring the whole family to the local beach.

“We stopped off in the shop to buy some ice creams so I decided to do the Lotto. I was back in the shop a couple of days later and everybody was talking about the big win. I got the biggest shiver down my spine and without even looking at the numbers, I knew it had to be me.

“I finally decided to check my numbers on a ticket scanner last week as I knew the deadline was approaching. On Friday, I noticed that the National Lottery were appealing for the winner to contact them so I said I better go up to Dublin and claim it before the deadline,” he laughed.

The family man, who wishes to remain private said he is going to surprise his family with a new family home: “This is a game-changer for our family. I still haven’t told anybody about my win and I don’t plan on telling them anytime soon.” he joked.

“My plan is to buy a lovely new family home for us and I will give them all the surprise of their lives when I tell them that it’s ours!”