$1m Lotto ticket sat in Napier winners' unlocked car overnight

The Napier Lotto winners of $1 million have claimed their prize.

The winners are a young couple from Napier and their winning ticket was a lucky dip for the September 17 draw.

The winners heard in the news that $1 million had been won on Lotto, and that the ticket had been sold at Greenmeadows New World – which is where they buy their tickets.

The ticket had been in their car overnight and when the man went to get it, he realised he had left it unlocked all night.

He checked the numbers manually, quickly realising he had all six Lotto numbers.

"I was excited when I heard someone had won $1 million. I went straight to grab the ticket from my car and realised I had left it unlocked all night," the man said.

"When I saw we had all six numbers, I was excited and wanted to tell my wife straight away, but she was on the phone."

"I was on the phone to my mum and my husband kept gesturing for me to end the call. I wondered what was so important that it couldn't wait," the woman said.

"I ended the call and he immediately said… 'it was us, we won $1 million,' I didn't really believe him until he showed me the numbers, it still doesn't feel real.

"We didn't know where to put the ticket to make sure it was safe, so we ended up putting it inside a book on the bookshelf," she laughed.

They decided to book a trip to Auckland for the long weekend and claim their prize in person while there.

The couple are planning to use their winnings to buy their first home and wish to remain anonymous.