Woman fears losing £7k lotto win

Anne Pooley had planned to give daughter Bethan a laptop

A woman fears she will miss out on a £7,000 Lottery win after it was declared invalid following a ticket machine problem at a Tesco store.

Anne Pooley, 44, of Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, said she felt sick after being told the ticket she bought in Merthyr Tydfil would not be honoured.

A problem with the machine had meant staff had to print fresh tickets.

Tesco said it was talking to Lotto firm Camelot about Mrs Pooley's claim. Camelot is examining the ticket.

Mrs Pooley, who has been off work since September following an operation, had already lost more than £80 through the collapse of the Farepak Christmas savings scheme.

We are sympathetic with Mrs Pooley's case - it's being investigated as matter of urgency Tesco spokesman

She did not realise she had chosen four winning numbers on a Hotpicks ticket until she checked later that Saturday evening.

She and her lorry driver partner Adrian Staples were "elated".

She said: "I kept checking the numbers again and again. We talked until about 4am and had already spent the money in our minds."

Their plans included a laptop for daughter Bethan. But the problem emerged when she visited Tesco in Upper Boat, near Pontypridd, the next morning.

'Sick in your stomach'

She said: "I didn't imagine anything would be wrong, but when staff scanned the ticket they said it was not a winner.

"In Merthyr, when I bought the ticket, the lottery machine was playing up and my original tickets would not print, so they gave me new tickets."

She added: "When you go into Tesco with a winning lottery ticket, walking on air, and are then told you haven't won, you feel absolutely deflated and sick in your stomach.

"I have the right four numbers on my ticket and as far as I'm concerned, it's 100% valid. But I'm terrified that we're not going to get the money for some reason."

A Tesco spokeswoman said the company was investigating the circumstances surrounding the ticket.

She said: "We are sympathetic with Mrs Pooley's case. It's being investigated as matter of urgency."

Mrs Pooley has since sent the ticket to Camelot for verification.

A Camelot spokeswoman said: "A player has sent in a ticket for validation and we will be looking into it."