Gina Nolan and 11 colleagues in her work syndicate matched six numbers on the National Lottery last Saturday.
The warehouse workers from Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, phoned lottery operator Camelot, which confirmed they were one of three ticketholders who would share the advertised £6.2million Lotto jackpot.
Losing out: Gina Nolan, pictured centre, said: 'It has taken away the whole excitement of winning'
But two days later, Camelot told them there had been a mistake. Blaming ‘human error’, it said it had calculated the jackpot incorrectly – and in fact it would be nearly £1.5million less.
Last night the five men and seven women accused Camelot of misleading them by failing to honour the advertised estimated jackpot. Instead they will receive £124,621 each.
It is unwelcome news for Camelot, which on October 5 relaunched its Lotto draw and doubled ticket prices to £2 as part of a drive to reverse a decline in ticket sales.
Mrs Nolan, 53, said: ‘It has taken away the whole excitement of winning. I cannot see how a big company could make such an error. I was more shocked than when we found out we had won.’
In the lead-up to Saturday’s draw Camelot had advertised the jackpot for its main Lotto draw as £6.2million.
As broadcaster Chris Evans ‘released the balls’ on the live BBC1 draw on Saturday he told viewers: ‘£6.2million, here we go everyone.’
Releasing the balls on Saturday night, Chris Evans told viewers: '£6.2 million, here we go everyone'
After the draw Mrs Nolan phoned Camelot which told her the syndicate’s ticket was one of three matching six numbers and would share the £6,228,639 jackpot. Her colleagues wept as they realised they would share a £2,076,213 portion of the jackpot.
But later in the week Mrs Nolan was visited by Camelot officials who told her the jackpot had been miscalculated and was actually £4,860,213.
‘I went white as a ghost,’ said Mrs Nolan. ‘I know they say it is an estimated jackpot but after the draw they put up the £6.2million figure on their website – it is not estimated after the draw has taken place.
She denied the group are greedy, saying: ‘We just want the prize they advertised.’
A Camelot spokesman confirmed that the Lotto jackpot had been ‘incorrectly communicated’. He said the error had been detected on Monday and the revised jackpot share of £1.62million paid out.
He added: ‘The draw itself was conducted entirely in line with National Lottery game rules and procedures. We have apologised and are conducting a thorough review to prevent such a mistake happening again.’
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