A frustrated mum says she has been left 'out of pocket' after her National lottery winnings have gone missing and never reached her bank account, the Liverpool Echo reports. Each month, Gemma Murray puts on a lottery ticket for herself and her mum through their online app and in October last year she was delighted to see she had won £30.
However, the mum-of-one from Kirkby has been left in 'an absolute nightmare' after she was told she'd get her prize money three months ago but still hasn't received it. Gemma claims to have phoned the lottery around '100 times' and argues that it's not even about the money anymore, it's about the 'principle'.
She told the ECHO: "Every month when we get paid, me and my mum put the lottery on for the month. She won three numbers - £30 - so I withdrew it from the account and we were told we'd get it by November 2, but we still haven't had it.
I've spoken to the lottery and they said the bank could trace it but the bank can't find any trace through any of my statements and National Lottery keep fobbing me off. They told me last Friday it must be there but the bank has no evidence of it."
The National Lottery told Gemma that the money had successfully been returned to her account and that the company which handles its debit card transactions has confirmed this. However, the mum's bank would need to contact them in writing in order to trace the payment which is something it said it can't do.
Gemma continued: "It's been an absolute nightmare, we've been back and forth and I'm constantly calling them and they are palming me off. I must've called 100 times and I'm at the point now where it's not even the money, it's the principle.
"Imagine if it was £800, I do the hot picks so what if it was my three numbers? We've had no problems in the past but it's doing my head in. I've had to give it my mum so now I'm out of pocket. My point I'm trying to make to them is surely they have a better way to deal with these issues."
A spokesperson for the National Lottery said the mum will be contacted by the customer care team, who will do everything they can to assist her. They continued: "In the very small number of cases that we see [like this], the funds are finally located at the bank’s end."
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