Lottery thwarted by computer glitch

[AshTheGamer]

A computer glitch left thousands of lottery players around the country unable to buy tickets. Skip related content

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Lottery thwarted by computer glitch

A spokesman for Camelot said: "Due to a network issue on Saturday afternoon, some players may have experienced difficulties buying National Lottery tickets in store or via The National Lottery website.

"We would like to apologise to anyone affected - and reassure those people with tickets that the draws will go ahead as usual."

The National Lottery website said: "Our Draw Games are closed. Why not try our exciting Instant Win Games?"

The spokesman added: "We have been selling tickets today. But the problem has been intermittent in retailers up and down the country."

He said the "network communications issue" had resulted in either slower than normal transactions or retailers being unable to perform transactions at all.

The spokesman later said that ticket machines across the country were up and running again at full speed after 6pm.

On Christmas Eve lottery organisers estimated Saturday night's jackpot at £4.2 million.

But the winning total was estimated at £3.1 million, suggesting the computer glitch effectively diminished the jackpot by more than £1 million.

- Ash ;)