A family, who won £1 million through EuroMillions lottery, had left their winning lottery ticket under a Christmas tree for two days without realising that it won the jackpot.

Karen Shaw and her family hit the jackpot of £1 million in the EuroMillion Millionaire Raffle on December 23, but did not realise the number until two days later on Christmas eve, according to the Mirror.

Karen, 44, and her husband Anthony, 43, and their children Sara and Karl checked the numbers only after opening the gifts in their house at Grangee-over-Sands, in Cumbria, and realised that they won a jackpot on December 23, reported BBC.

"We eventually all sat down around 4 pm on Christmas Day to open the presents and I remembered the tickets. Karl was looking at numbers on his phone and suddenly said 'you had better check it, I think it's a winner'," she was quoted as saying to BBC.

She said, "After looking at it we all agreed the right number was there but none of us could believe it was real. It is unbelievable that we had £1 million under our tree all that time."

Karen, who runs a sheltered housing scheme, told the Mirror, "The first thing we need to do is get the kids sorted out. It will allow them to get a property - which will give me two spare bedrooms and a lot less mess to tidy! Anthony and I have always wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise so we can plan that now, and of course we will also treat the rest of the family. It is financial security really."

The winning ticket was bought in Asda in Kendal.

Christmas