CASH OUT
We thought we’d won £35million in the lottery but we got NOTHING because we didn’t have enough money in our bank account
Couple vow to carry on playing after major disappointment
A COUPLE who thought they had won £35million on the lottery ended up with nothing - due to a huge ticket error.
Edwina and David Nylan, from Fleetwood, Lancs, claim they missed out on the life-changing lottery windfall because they didn't have enough money in their lotto account when they bought their ticket.
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The couple thought they matched six of the winning lottery numbers while playing on the Lottomobile app at Christmas.
Edwina and David said they bought a ticket for the draw on December 23, 2015.
Their account showed they didn't have the cash to go pay for the purchase of the £2 ticket, so they topped it up and
bought a ticket using the numbers 01 - 02 - 04 - 19 - 28 - 41.
But when the cash strapped couple tried to claim the whopping £35,410,034 jackpot prize Camelot told them they had no record of the transaction.
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Edwina said: "When the numbers came up, it looked like we had got all six and had won the jackpot but when I checked, there was nothing from Camelot.
"I rang customer services at Camelot and the person I spoke to said they could see from their records that we had intended to buy those numbers but they said the purchase did not go through because we only had 60p in our account.
"We had tried to top up the account, and hadn't realised that hadn't registered either.
"You get an email to confirm your purchase, but I didn't remember to check because it was just before Christmas and I was so busy.
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"Camelot has now told me they are looking into it with their IT department."
However, the couple are determined to soldier on and keep playing the lottery.
Edwina said: "I am gutted, but what can we do?
"We have played for years, and had our online account for some time, so it is not as if we didn't know what we were doing.
"I have just had to carry on with things and not get too down.
"Shocked isn't the word, but as a family we stick together and just have to be grateful for what we've got."
Camelot claimed the couple attempted to buy the tickets multiple times but it couldn't confirm whether or not they would have won.
A spokesperson said: "The player did attempt to purchase an online Lotto ticket multiple times on December 23 from 7pm onwards (the cut-off to buy tickets is 7.30pm), however, there were insufficient funds in the player's account - so the attempted purchases were not successful.
"The player would have received an error message on every occasion confirming this.
"Only tickets that have been successfully purchased can be entered into the draw.
"So it is up to players to ensure that they have adequate funds in their account to complete a ticket purchase."
The couple aren't the only ones to miss out on a big jackpot.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Earlier this week, we revealed how one People's Postcode Lottery winner thought he'd won, only to find out he'd been sent a bar of soap.
While a scratchcard player who may have bagged £10,000 is still chasing her winnings due to a change in rules on how money is collected.
UK's biggest lottery winners
By Ethan Singh
- Anonymous winner - £195,707,000
A UK ticket-holder scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022 – the biggest National Lottery win of all time.
The holder, who remains anonymous to this day, amassed the fortune with just one lucky ticket.
- Joe and Jess Thwaite - £184,262,899.10
Britain's previous EuroMillions record holders were Joe and Jess Thwaite.
The couple won a record-breaking £184million jackpot in May 2022 and shared hopes of a Hawaiian holiday and a new horse box for their children's ponies.
Joe bought his winning ticket online on May 10, 2022, and the following morning received an email with good news.
As he learnt of the huge win, he was in disbelief and initially kept it for himself as he did not want to disturb his wife, who was sleeping.
Joe, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two children.
- Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000
Colin and Christine Weir landed the colossal prize money in 2011 and were Europe’s second-biggest winners until someone in Italy won a jackpot worth £193m in 2019.
They splashed the cash at an astounding rate of £100,000 a week before tragedy struck.
But at the time of Colin’s death in December 2019 his share of the prize money had dwindled by around £40m.
He spent the millions living a life of luxury, forking out for sports cars, property and the football club he supported.
Colin and Christine divorced shortly before his death after being married for 38 years.
He left money for their children Carly and Jamie.
- Adrian and Gillian Brayford - £148,600,000
Adrian and Gillian won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, which came to just over £148 million.
But Adrian split from Gillian the following year because of the stress of the win.
The couple bought a Grade II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021.
After divorcing in 2013, he failed to woo ex-sausage factory worker Marta Jarosz — but fell for stable girl Sam Burbidge.
She left him in 2017, taking 30 prize horses Adrian bought.
It might have worked out in the end for Adrian though as the former postman was seen smiling with ambulance worker Tracey Biles last year.
- Frances and Patrick Connolly - £114,969,775
Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband hit the jackpot.
They scooped almost £115 million on New Year’s Day 2019.
She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family.
- Richard and Debbie Nuttall - £61,000,000
The couple from Colne, Lancashire, took home £61 million on January 30 2024.
Both 54, they were enjoying a holiday in Fuerteventura, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
But they then discovered the big EuroMillions win.
Richard revealed they originally thought they had won £2.60, but then received another email telling the pair to check their account.
Other eye-watering anonymous winners:
- 2019 - £123million
Another anonymous winner scooped up a prize of £123,458,008 in the June Superdraw rollover.
- 2021 - £122million
Following nine rollovers, one ticketholder bagged the £122,550,350 jackpot last April.
The successful participant chose to remain anonymous.
- 2018 - £121million
Another anonymous winner found their fortune during the Superdraw jackpot rollover in April 2018, securing £121,328,187.
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