National Lottery player who 'won' £50,000 Lotto jackpot told he'll only get £6

A National Lottery "winner" who thought he had landed a £50,000 Lotto jackpot has been told he didn't win a penny. A National Lottery player thought he had scooped a £50k jackpot and couldn’t sleep waiting to claim the victory.

But a heartbreaking call left him gutted. Dean Smethurst reveals how he made a mistake when he went to a Tesco supermarket in Farnworth, Lancashire, to have his card checked, with a message popping up on the till saying he had won.

After being told to call Camelot - as the apparent winnings were too large to be paid out upfront - he checked the terms and conditions where he discovered that the till's message usually displayed when punters had won upwards of £50,000.

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He said: "I’d gone in to do a bit of shopping and I thought I’d check to see how I’d gone on in the previous Saturday’s draw. The receipt said I’d won a prize the store would not be able to pay out and that I should contact Camelot immediately.

“All the other staff applauded me." Dean said: "I didn’t sleep because I was so excited. My house is like a building site at the moment so that was the first thing that I decided to spend my winnings on. Then I decided to treat the family to a luxury holiday to Barbados.”

But he was later told his numbers didn’t match and he had actually won three lucky dips, worth £2 each. He said: "I never thought to check my numbers, I didn't think a company as large as Camelot could have got it wrong, I didn't understand."

Dean said: "When I had purchased the ticket I had bought one for both the Saturday and Wednesday draw. As the Wednesday draw was in the process of taking place, it looks like this was an automated message instead which would have been given for any win.

"I was absolutely gutted, It is back to the drawing board now."