UK Woman Claims Store Trashed £12M Lottery Ticket

A UK woman claims her £12 million (US$16 million) lottery ticket ended up in the trash after a store terminal mistakenly indicated there was no prize.

Kath Main, 46, says she has been playing the same six numbers for about 20 years, and on Saturday, June 6, 2026, they finally came up in the National Lottery draw.

Main phoned her mother, Fiona, who buys the family’s tickets each week, only to be told the ticket had been checked at a Londis store in Abercynon, South Wales, and was believed to be a loser.

“I rang my mother and said, ‘You did put the lottery on?’ and she said, ‘Yeah.’

“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, ‘£12 million.’ She said, ‘It can’t be, the ticket’s in the bin [trash].’”

Trash Emptied

According to Fiona, the terminal didn’t beep when the ticket was scanned and nothing appeared on the screen.

The store clerk asked Fiona if she wanted to keep the tickets. She told the clerk to throw them in the trash, since there were no winners.

When the mother and daughter realized the mistake, they phoned the store, only to be told the trash had been emptied.

UK National Lottery operator Allwyn is currently investigating the matter.

Human Error

Normally, aphysical ticket is required to claim a jackpot, because it’s the legal proof of ownership. Allwyn does have procedures for lost or destroyed tickets, but the claimant has to satisfy the operator that they genuinely bought the winning ticket.

Unfortunately for Main, the store’s security cameras were unavailable that day because the premises were being renovated. However, Allwyn may still be able to trace the transaction through its records, since lottery terminals log every ticket sold.

Allwyn told The Sun it was “highly unlikely” to be a machine glitch, more likely human error. Main and her mother must now wait for the operator’s 30-day investigation to determine whether they really held the jackpot-winning ticket.

“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,” Main said.