I thought I’d won an £11 million lottery fortune when my numbers came out… but I was devastatingly wrong

• Mark Fletcher, 49, bought a ticket for the Saturday 29 June Lotto draw

A man thought he had won an £11million lottery fortune after his numbers came up – but he was left empty-handed after making a devastating mistake.

Mark Fletcher, 49, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, was overjoyed when he checked his Lotto app and found he had matched all six numbers correctly.

The Lottery app then appeared to confirm his huge cash prize when it indicated a “winning match” between the numbers drawn and Mr Fletcher’s numbers – which were highlighted in red on the screen.

Believing he had won the huge sum, Mark contacted the Lotto – only to be told his winnings had gone to zero because he had misread crucial information.

It turned out that, unfortunately for Mark, he had been looking at the ticket with the winning numbers, and not the one he had originally bought.

Speaking to Wigan Today, he said: “I was a bit shocked when I checked the numbers and found they matched.

“However, when I called them to check, I was on the phone for 45 minutes and the woman was adamant that I was not a winner.

“Then I asked why it was telling me I won and if there was a glitch with the app and they denied that too.

Mark also claimed that when he contacted the Lotto team, he was given no “sympathy” by the company.

He added: “I felt like I was put under a lie detector. She kept saying, “You didn’t buy that ticket, did you, Mark?

“When people play Lotto, I think it’s a reliable service, but now I doubt it. They showed no empathy towards me.

“It affected me – I was left thinking about all the ‘what ifs.’ If they told me I won but I didn’t actually win anything, it’s a bit cruel and I had sleepless nights.

A spokesman for lotto operators Allwyn said: “Players can select any set of ‘my numbers’, save them to their app account and then go into the app and check them against any previous draw.

“It has nothing to do with whether a player actually played the numbers or not – and in this case, the player did not play this set of six numbers through their online account for the June 29 draw or indeed in any draw previous at the June 29 draw that takes place.’

It comes after Lottery winners are said to be forced to wait more than a month to collect their winnings.

The Swiss company, which took over from Camelot, wants punters to verify their numbers by phone or online and then mail their ticket in for inspection before they receive any money.

It also wants those claiming money to provide official ID and photos of themselves.

Last year the Post Office ended its group contract with the National Lottery, meaning around a fifth of branches are expected to stop selling tickets and lottery tickets.