National Lottery winner ‘banned’ from Tesco after row over payout

A National Lottery player has claimed he was banned from his local Tesco after staff refused to pay out a winning ticket.

Kevin Layne, 63, had won a £140 prize on a lottery draw just days ago, but when he went to his local branch of the supermarket to claim his winnings, he was left “livid”.

Layne had popped into the Comberton Hill Tesco Express in Kidderminster to buy a meal deal and claim his cash, but was rebuffed when he brought his ticket to the cashier.

“I paid for my food and then she looked at the lottery ticket and said: ‘I can’t pay that, it’s too much’,” he told The Sun.

The 63-year-old continued: “I said it’s £140. I said I put it on here regularly and sometimes I put it on for a month, which is £80. I also put my phone credit on which makes it £90 – sometimes I’ve gone in that shop and paid £100.

“She said you can’t bring that in here,” Layne added, and said an employee had told him he was “barred” – which Tesco disputes, saying he was asked to leave.

Layne, a plasterer, recalled a £2,000 win about 10 years ago in which he was allowed to take out £500 of his winnings over the counter.

He said: “That’s 10 years ago… And she’s telling me she can’t give me £140!

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“What she did was, she printed me a ticket out that says: ‘Congratulations for winning but you’ll have to try and get paid by somewhere else.’

“I’m livid by now – I know she’s done it on purpose. I go in that Tesco regularly, there’s always a queue, they have security guards – it makes a fortune.”

Layne added that three senior Tesco staff members all spoke to him and told him they’d “have to look up” their own lottery policy.

He said he replied: “Don’t mess about – just give me the money. That was it, I wandered off. Both Tescos. I use them for my shopping, never again.”

A few days later, the 63-year-old visited another Tesco Express, this time in Birmingham – and when he tried to cash in his ticket there, the cashier “just handed over the money” without issue.

Layne, who used to live and work in Thailand, said: “It’s a smack in the face,” but admitted that his experience hadn’t put him off playing, and jabbed: “There’s more things disappointing in Britain than the lottery.”

An Allwyn spokesman said: “National Lottery retailers are required to pay out up to £100 in prize money, and up to £500 at their own discretion.”

They added: “It really depends on what Tesco’s own policy is with regards to paying out prizes over £100.”