A lucky group of 165 local residents in Belgium of one a EUR 142 million EuroMillions jackpot after banding together.

This means that they will each walk away with about EUR 900,000 (GBP 777,000) each, according to Belgian media, who said the Belgian National Lottery had confirmed that a group of 165 residents from the village of Olmen in the Antwerp province had won EUR 142,897,164 (GBP 123,400,274).

Joke Vermoere, a spokesperson for the National Lottery, told Belgian media: “They all played together in the same newsagent in Olmen, where they each invested EUR 15” (GBP 12.95).

She added: “It is not the first time that De Pershoek organises this kind of group pot, but it is the first time that they win so much.”

De Pershoek is the local newsagent in Olmen, and Wim Van Broekhoven, the owner, told Belgian radio that most of his customers could not believe it. He said: “I often had to repeat it five to six times.”

Newsflash obtained a statement previously issued by EuroMillions early on Wednesday, 7th December, confirming that the winning ticket for the Tuesday draw had been sold in Belgium with the numbers “12, 20, 25, 26 and 27”, and “with Lucky Stars 8 and 12”.

EuroMillions said: “The winning numbers for Tuesday 6th December were 12, 20, 25, 26 and 27, with Lucky Stars 8 and 12. Check out the prize breakdown to see a table showing how many winners there were in each country, plus the prize values.

“There were more than 27 million entries purchased for the draw, but only one matched the full winning line.”