GTech fights to hold on to its lottery licence

THE BOARD of GTech, shareholders in the lottery operator Camelot, spent nearly four hours yesterday trying to persuade the National Lottery regulator, Oflot, that they are "fit and proper" people to help run the lottery.

The meeting was called following Richard Branson's victory in a libel case in which GTech's disgraced former director, Guy Snowden, was alleged to have tried to bribe the Virgin boss to withdraw from the race to win the lottery licence. William O'Connor, chief executive of GTech, emerged from the meeting saying that it had been "candid and thorough".John Stoker, Oflot's acting director general, who could revoke Camelot's licence, is seeking assurances that GTech has never - and is not currently - involved in unlawful activities. He intends to deliver a verdict "shortly".