NEW SOUTH WALES - An Australian man received the best reward for cleaning his car this month - a A$1,020,496 (S$1,101,402) winning lottery ticket.

The man, who is from Newscastle, New South Wales, bought the ticket in January last year, reported the BBC.

"I'm glad I didn't just get the old bags and take them to the dump," he said.

While the grandfather, who has remained anonymous, called himself "a bit stupid" for forgetting about the ticket for 414 days, he added: "I'm not worried that I could have had the money a year ago. At least I've got it now."

He plans to spend his winnings on his children's house repayments, and his grandchildren's education.

The owner of the newsagents where the ticket was sold expressed her relief at the prize finally being claimed.

"You wouldn't believe how many customers we've had coming in during the past year asking whether the winner had been found," said Cheryl Tuckerman.