Camelot confesses to misleading sales claim as Lotto takings struggle to hit the jackpot

Camelot has been forced to correct a misleading financial statement on its lottery sales after an investigation by The Independent on Sunday.

The National Lottery operator has admitted that claims it made in a press release in May - that it had raised £88m a week during the first three months of the year - were wrong. It actually took £84.6m, a 4 per cent drop in sales.

"We do accept [the statement] should have been caveated to say that," a spokes- woman said. "We are reissuing the website to make that clear."

The admission - which has come as ministers consider removing Camelot's monopoly on lottery games - has highlighted a continuing and significant decline in sales for its flagship game, Lotto.

Over the past five weeks, Camelot has used some £30m of its reserve funds for three "superdraw jackpots" in an attempt to lure players back. Each of these £15m "superdraws" is worth roughly £10m more than normal jackpots.

The £30m was handed out after sales for one Saturday draw in June dropped to a low of £33m, leaving jackpot winners sharing only £4.33m. At the game's peak in the 1990s, jackpots routinely topped £8m. Over the last three months, weekly Lotto sales have been down to £52m a week - compared with more than £70m at the game's peak.

Camelot insists it anticipated that Lotto sales would slowly decline, based on the experience of other lotteries worldwide. It also insists this year's decline has slowed to 1.2 per cent month on month, against 12 per cent last year, but the continued slump is embarrassing and badly timed.

In April 2002, Camelot invested £28m in an ill-fated relaunch and rebranded it Lotto. It hired Billy Connolly as the new face of the game but then fired him in February after the relaunch flopped.

With the support of the National Lottery Commission, the game's regulator, the company is now pinning its hopes for revival on the launch of several new games, including a daily draw with a jackpot of £30,000 which begins this autumn; a "Euro lotto" including players in France and Spain, starting in spring 2004; and new interactive television and internet- based games.

It will also operate a series of games to raise £750m for London's Olympics bid.