A woman has claimed her National Lottery ticket, which could be worth £12m, was binned in a shop.
Kath Main, 46, has used the same numbers - 08, 10, 26, 30, 35 and 42 - for the last 20 years and realised she had hit the jackpot.
However, she was told that when the ticket was checked at a Londis in Abercynon, south Wales, it was not a winner.
The National Lottery’s operator Allwyn confirmed it is investigating the incident.
The rugby club secretary told The Sun that she rang her mother to ask if she had put the lottery on for the 6 June draw, after realising she had the winning numbers.
She said: “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, ‘£12m.’ She said, ‘It can’t be, the ticket’s in the bin.’”
Her mother said that when checking the ticket, the shop owner informed her there were no winners, and so she decided to bin the ticket.
By the time Ms Main and her mother realised the mistake, the bins had been emptied.
Karan Kumar, the Londis shop owner, said: “The machine could have been playing up. Now they are doing an investigation. It would be amazing if she won.”
Ms Main, who now has to wait 30 days for a decision from Allwyn, added: “I just feel sick all the time, it’s the not knowing and waiting.
“I’m the unluckiest person to win the lottery because I don’t have the money. I’m trying not to think about what I’d do with the money in case I don’t get it.”
But she said if she were to win the money, she would go to New Zealand for the British and Irish Lions tour in 2029.
An Allwyn spokesperson said: “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.”
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