Allwyn To Investigate Claim for £12 Million Lotto Win
National Lottery operator Allwyn is set to investigate a claim for last month’s £12 million Lotto jackpot after reports that the winning ticket was binned by a retailer due to a faulty machine.
One ticket matched the six main winning numbers - 8, 10, 26, 30, 35 and 42 - in the draw on Saturday 6th June. The money went unclaimed for a couple of weeks, so the National Lottery followed the usual procedure of announcing the area where the ticket was purchased - Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales.
A woman from South Wales, 46-year-old Kath Main, has now spoken to UK media outlets to claim that she played those numbers, as she had for the last 20 years.
Recounting the story, she explained that her mother, Fiona, gets the tickets for her. Upon seeing the winning numbers and recognising them as her usual line, she called her mum to check that she had bought a ticket that week.
That’s where the complication arose, as Fiona had already been to a Londis store in Abercynon to get the ticket checked, only to be told it was not a winner as the machine did not beep and nothing showed on the screen. Fiona said to Kath: “He told me, 'There are no winners; do you want them back?' And I said, "If there are no winners, then put them in the bin.”
By the time Kath and her mother finally realised their mistake, it was already too late. The bins at the store had already been emptied, taking the ticket along with them.
What Happens Next?
Since the incident, Kath has raised the issue with lottery operator Allwyn, who downplayed the possibility of a system glitch. Allwyn stated it was “highly unlikely” to be a machine error, suggesting instead that human oversight was to blame. Unfortunately, proving what happened has hit a major roadblock: the Londis store where the ticket was checked is currently being renovated, leaving it entirely without CCTV footage.
However, store owner Karan Kumar isn't ruling out a technical hiccup. Kumar noted that the machine could have been playing up and confirmed that an official investigation is now underway, adding, “It would be amazing if she won.”
It is possible to claim a prize in the UK even if your ticket has been lost, stolen or destroyed, but it involves a rigorous validation process. The first part is to submit an appeal to the National Lottery within 30 days of the draw date - which does seem to have been done in this case.
As part of this appeal, the claimant must provide sufficient evidence that they bought the ticket in question - including precise details about where and when it was purchased (as close to the minute as possible). The National Lottery can then verify whether this information matches up to its own records.
Even if Allwyn are satisfied that this claim is genuine, they are likely to wait until the 180-day claim period expires before making a final decision on whether to pay out the prize to Kath Main. This is to ensure that nobody else comes forward with the ticket in hand.
It is sure to be an agonising time for Main until she learns whether her claim is successful. She said: “I just feel sick all the time; it's the not knowing and waiting.”
All National Lottery prizes which remain unclaimed go towards good causes across a variety of sectors. Make sure you keep your tickets safe and check them thoroughly if you play in-store, or choose your numbers online to make sure that you never miss out on a prize.
Published: Friday 10th July 2026Lottery News News Archive