National Lottery winners forced to 'jump through six hoops' for cash due to new rules

New National Lottery rules mean players are having to "jump through hoops" to get winnings. National Lottery winners and players are being forced to wait WEEKS for scratchcard winnings under strict new checks and balances.

Andrew Leese won £1,500 but has hit out at new operator Allwyn, who took over from Camelot, after being forced to go online, fill out forms and take photographs of the ticket. He also explained how he had to wait for an email with a barcode.

He said: "You have to go online, fill all the forms in, give them your address, and take photographs of the ticket, front and back. Then you have to wait for an email from them to get a barcode that you take to the Post Office, for them to scan and print your label off to send to the Lottery people.

READ MORE UK braced for heatwave later this week but only 'half' of England will be hit

"I rang them three times before I could even get a barcode." He added: "I don’t trust the National Lottery any more. I have done it from day one, and I’ll never do it again while this company is running it."

An Allwyn spokesperson said: "We're very sorry to hear of Mr Leese’s concerns and have been in touch with him with an update. This is a new claims process we’ve had to introduce following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000.

"As a result of it being new, we’ve been experiencing higher volumes of players contacting us and some initial delays to players receiving their prizes. We've since increased the number of colleagues to assist with claims – which is helping us send out prizes more quickly – and are continuing to work to make improvements to the process.

"We'd like to reassure anyone affected that they will receive their prize."