A NATIONAL Lottery player of 30 years saw her first ever winning ticket flop when a four-figure cheque bounced.
Stacey Weaver, 58, was thrilled to scoop £1,750 by matching five numbers in the national draw on June 8.
The civil servant, from Battersea, South London, told The Sun she attempted to claim the prize at her local corner shop.
But she was foiled by rules introduced earlier this year halting Post Offices from paying out cash wins over £500.
After eventually getting sent a cheque from game-runners Allwyn, the mum-of-two says the payslip bounced, leaving her without the promised prize money.
She has since spent six weeks hunting down her cash from the National Lottery’s customer service team.
Stacey – who still has her winning ticket – added: “It’s a lot of money to have waved in front of you only for it to feel like it’s been taken away.
“I got a letter from them which thanked me for playing and supporting good causes, and the cheque was in there.
“I paid it in from my phone by taking a photo but a day after the money went in my balance went down again.
“The bank said it was because it had bounced.
“I’ve chased them at least five times, and each time I get told there’s nothing they can do, and no manager is available to speak to me.
“All they say is that managers don’t talk on the phone, but how is that meant to help me?
“All I want to do is claim what’s mine and it can’t just be me in this position.
“This will have happened to other players too.”
The mum said she’d bought a ticket each week in the weekly Saturday draw since it launched in 1994 – though had never won more than £50.
Yesterday Stacey was assured a replacement cheque was on the way after The Sun intervened, but joked: “I just hope this one doesn’t bounce too.”
Earlier this year The Sun exposed chaos with cash payouts on the Hotpicks scratchcard games as players were left waiting for six weeks to cash in their £800 victories.
We revealed how the new payments system sparked chaos after some winners faced probes over their victories, leaving punters unable to claim cash prizes.
An Allwyn spokeswoman said: “We’re very sorry to hear of the concerns raised and have now been in direct contact with the claimant.
“This is a revised claims process that we had to introduce earlier this year following the Post Office’s decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000.
“We are continuing to work on new ways to help further improve the claims process, and would like to reassure our winners that they will definitely receive their prize.”
