A MAN who thought he had won a £50,000 lottery jackpot called his friends to share the good news, only to find out he had only won just £6.
Staff at the Farnworth Tesco store in Lancashire applauded Dean Smethurst after telling the 32-year-old that he had won three lucky dips.
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The Tesco worker instructed Mr Smethurst to contact Camelot to claim his prize money, saying she was unable to pay out his winnings.
However, phone lines were down for the night, prompting Mr Smethurst to read the terms and conditions on Camelot’s website, which stated that wins of more than £50,000 can’t be paid out by retail shops.
Believing he had potentially won at least £50,000, Mr Smethurst then rushed home to let his friends and family know the exciting news before cracking open a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Mr Smethurst also wasted no time in planning how to spend his windfall, telling The Mirror: “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.”
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However, Mr Smethurst’s excitement was shortlived. When he was able to get through to the National Lottery the following morning, he was told he had won just £6 from three winning lucky dips on a future game.
Mr Smethurst, who has been playing the lottery for several years, was devastated, saying he had given the Tesco worker the serial number of his ticket.
“She inputted it and said: ‘Well done, you’ve won…three lucky dips’. I asked her if she was sure, and then I asked to speak to a manager. I am absolutely gutted. I thought, ‘this is it, it’s for real, my numbers have come up’. 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,” he said.
The blunder happened because the Wednesday lottery draw that Mr Smethurst had entered was in progress while Mr Smethurst had his Saturday ticket checked.
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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.”
A spokesman for Camelot said Mr Smethurst had attempted to claim a prize during a “draw break” when National Lottery sales are suspended while a draw takes place. The prize couldn’t be paid out at that time – because the ticket was still entered into a “live” draw.
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