A lottery winner who bagged a prize of £1,500 says he is still waiting for the cash four weeks after sending evidence of the ticket.
Sergei Cofie-Squire from Toxteth, Liverpool bought the ticket from WH Smiths on March 19 and verified his numbers online.
The 61-year-old abided by new rules enforced by Allwyn - which replaced Camelot as the National Lottery operator in February - and sent his ticket in the post to be inspected.
He was told his ticket was received by the company but is yet to receive his prize.
A lottery winner who bagged a prize of £1,500 says he is still waiting for the cash four weeks after sending evidence of the ticket
PA"I have been in touch many times because I won on March 19. I have followed all the procedures and I'm still waiting. I've rang numerous times," he told the Liverpool Echo.
"Half the time I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. I could understand a seven day delay, but not four weeks, which is unacceptable.
"I'm a very regular Lottery player. You've got to be in it to win it. On March 19 I won the £1,500, so I went to the Post Office to try and collect my cheque, but I was told a new company had taken over.
"They give you a website you go to and put in all the details required, which is a photo of the winning ticket, front and back, and they then send you a QR code. Then you have to go to the Post Office with that code, and post the original ticket to then (Allwyn)."
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Cofie-Squire said he has a receipt which states his ticket was delivered on April 4.
However, the lottery winner says he has heard nothing since which is "very unusual".
The new rules introduced by Allwyn have led to delays in the release of prizes to lottery winners.
Previously, winners could claim their prizes at Post Offices, but this has now been stopped as the company's contract with The National Lottery expired in January.
The new rules introduced by Allwyn have reportedly delayed the release of prizes to lottery winners
PACofie-Squire added: "Why do I have to wait so long to collect my winnings? I'm told it's a teething problem, but I say they should have thought of that before switching over. It's beginning to feel like a joke. All the processes I have gone through, and I've heard nothing from them."
An Allwyn spokesman said: "This is a new claims process following the Post Office's decision to no longer pay National Lottery retail prizes between £500.01 and £50,000.
"The time the process takes will vary depending on whether we need any further information from the player in order to process their claim and how long it takes for us to receive the ticket or Scratchcard from the player.
"As people are still unfamiliar with the new process, we’re also experiencing a high volume of players contacting us and have increased the number of colleagues to assist players with their claims which is helping them get their prizes more quickly.
"But we're very sorry to hear of Mr Cofie-Squire's concerns and have been touch with him with an update. We'd like to reassure anyone affected that they will receive their prize."
