A lottery player from South Wales says she is left 'sickened' after her winning £12 million ticket was allegedly thrown in the bin by a shopkeeper. Kath Main, a 42-year-old mother of two from Abercynon, claims she has been playing the same numbers for 20 years and only discovered the win after seeing news reports that the prize was unclaimed.
How the ticket was lost
Kath's mother had purchased the lottery ticket for the June 6 draw at the local Londis store in Abercynon. When she checked the ticket at the shop, the machine did not beep, and the shop owner told her nothing came up on the screen. Believing it was not a winner, she agreed for the ticket to be thrown in the bin. By the time Kath realized what had happened, the rubbish had been collected.
Kath told The Sun: 'I saw there was an unclaimed lottery ticket and checked the numbers and realised they were mine. I rang my mother and said, “You did put the lottery on?” and she said “Yeah”. I said, “Well we’ve won the lottery,” and she said, “I checked and there was no winners.” I said “No, it’s a winner, we’ve won.” She said “How much?” and I said, “£12million.” She said “It can’t be, the ticket’s in the bin.”'
Investigation underway
National Lottery operator Allwyn has launched an investigation into the claim. The process could take up to 30 days to determine whether Kath is the rightful winner. Kath has provided Allwyn with proof of purchase and doorbell footage showing her mother at the time the ticket was made.
Kath, a rugby club secretary, said: 'I just feel sick all the time, it’s the not knowing and waiting.' She added that Allwyn told her if the machine didn’t beep, it could be human error, while a faulty machine was 'highly unlikely.'
Shop owner's response
Karan Kumar, owner of the Londis store, commented: 'The machine could have been playing up. Now they are doing an investigation. It would be amazing if she won.' The shop currently has no CCTV because it is undergoing renovation.
An Allwyn spokesperson stated: 'As operator of the National Lottery, we take our duty of care to players very seriously. We are currently investigating a claim relating to a potentially winning ticket. The National Lottery is the only major lottery in the world that allows players to claim a prize if a winning ticket has been lost, stolen or destroyed. Our priority is making sure that every prize is correctly paid to the right person.'
