Bid to end Italy's lotto fever

By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News, Rome

Italy's love affair with the soaring lotto jackpot has been declared unhealthy

Italy's main consumer rights organisation has launched a legal battle to have the prize money in the country's national lottery seized.

The lottery has not been won in months and now stands at more than 95m euro ($125m, £74m).

The group, Codacons, says the jackpot is creating a dangerous gambling fever in the country.

With no winner since April, Italy's SuperEnalotto has rolled over to create the massive jackpot.

For each draw, held three times a week, Italians and foreigners have rushed to buy tickets. More than 100m were purchased last weekend alone.

Now Codacons, the Italian consumer right's group, has filed a lawsuit demanding that the money should be seized because, it says, it is too high.

The organisation says the record jackpot has created a very dangerous betting fever with many recorded cases of people spending their life savings.

The odds on winning the jackpot have been calculated at 600m to one.

Seizing the money and splitting it among other lottery-style games would, says Codacons, protect the collective interest.

The Rome prosecutors office has not yet set a date for a hearing on the lawsuit.

The Italian government earns an estimated $1bn annually from lottery proceeds.