World record £314m jackpot up for grabs in Mega Millions lottery

A world record $500m [£314m] lottery jackpot is up for grabs in the US, prompting a frantic rush for tickets.

The huge prize eclipses the largest ever Euromillions win of £161m, scooped by Scottish couple Colin and Chris Weir in July last year.

A single winner would be worth more than Robbie Williams, David Bowie, Kylie Minogue and Sir Cliff Richard put together.

The Mega Millions lottery, which operates across 42 American states, has seen 18 rollovers since 24 January- pushing the grand prize to half a billion dollars.

[Related article: Drivers syndicate scoop £38m Euromillions jackpot]

The chances of scooping the astronomical sum are  1 in 175, 711, 536, but it hasn’t stopped millions of tickets being snapped up by Americans looking for a huge windfall.

Tuesday night’s draw almost saw a winner as 47 players across the country matched 5 out of 6 winning numbers- worth $250,000 [£157,000] each before taxes.

The $500m jackpot smashes the previous all-time high prize of $390m [£245m], which was split by two winners from Georgia and New Jersey.

[Related article: You've won the lottery, but what happens next?]

The lucky winner can receive the funds in two ways - by taking a lump sum or accepting annual installments. With latter option the winner can still access an astounding $19m [£11.9m] a year.

Unlike the Euromillions, however, the Mega Millions is subject to tax- leaving a take-home lump sum of $359m [£225m] for this draw.