CAMELOT today confirmed plans to launch a legal challenge after it lost the mandate to run the National Lottery from 2024.
This was a serious blow to the company which has held the franchise since the lotto began in 1994.
The Gambling Commission picked Czech group Allwyn instead, to the surprise of some.
Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said: "We are launching a legal challenge today in our capacity as an applicant for the Fourth Licence because we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong. When we received the result, we were shocked by aspects of the decision. Despite lengthy correspondence, the Commission has failed to provide a satisfactory response. We are therefore left with no choice but to ask the court to establish what happened.”
Allwyn had no comment.
Last week Camelot was fined £3.15 million for errors that saw thousands of winning ticket holders told they had in fact lost.
Camelot is owned by Canadian pension fund The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
It has retained Lord Pannick QC to lead its legal appeal. He has come under fire lately for representing Arkady Rotenberg, a friend and judo partner of Vladimir Putin.
