A mother who believed she had become a millionaire through a William Hill betting app has spoken of her heartbreak after the gambling company dismissed her winnings as a technical fault.
Claire Ainsley described the moment she saw the seven-figure sum in her account.
She said: "I was so excited, I had planned for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them when they get older.
"I was thinking it was going to go into my bank in 72 hours."
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The mother explained that after noticing the apparent jackpot, she contacted the betting firm by email, attaching screenshots as evidence of her winnings.
William Hill responded by requesting identification documents, which she provided.
Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain, she said: "They just wanted me to send my ID over, so I did. So I sent that all over, and they said, 'Yes, it will be in your bank'.
"It took 72 hours, then I got a feeling I'm not going to get anything."
Claire Ainsley believed she had become a millionaire through a William Hill betting app
|ITV
Her attempt to withdraw the funds was ultimately rejected at the last moment.
Two days later, an email arrived informing her that the win had been a glitch and no payment would be made.
When asked about her feelings at that point, Ms Ainsley told the presenters she was "gutted", having already made arrangements for how to spend the money.
Ms Ainsley claimed that she is not alone in this situation.
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Claire Ainsley claimed that she is not alone in this situation
|ITV
She disclosed that multiple other people in a Facebook group she belongs to have experienced the same issue with the jackpot drop game.
She added: "A lot of people have won, and some people have taken the money out, some people haven't. So I'm quite lucky it didn't go into my account because I don't have the money to pay it back."
A legal expert appearing alongside her explained that, while William Hill's terms and conditions permit the company to void gameplay in the event of errors, Ms Ainsley is demanding comprehensive evidence of the alleged technical fault.
She said: "I feel like I deserve that money, they said I could have it, so it's my money."
William Hill denied the withdrawal
|GETTY
An Evoke spokeswoman said: "During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game, which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly.
"Whilst we quickly identified and resolved this issue, for a short period of time funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts that were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning gameplay.
"We have contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue, and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions.
"We have been grateful for our customers’ understanding on this matter and apologise for the inconvenience caused.”