Lotto jackpot draw halted by technical glitch

A “technical fault” halted the National Lottery’s Lotto draw on Saturday evening.

It is understood that viewers watching the rollover saw the program abruptly cut off after the bonus ball failed to drop on the draw machine.

The operator Allwyn confirmed the draw had been paused “due to the bonus ball not dropping” and would resume as soon as possible with an alternative machine and “under the supervision of an independent adjudicator”.

The winning numbers were later drawn on Saturday evening. It is not yet clear what caused the earlier glitch.

A spokesperson said earlier: “We expect to complete tonight’s Lotto draw and publish the verified results on national-lottery.co.uk later this evening and apologize for the delay.”

The stream for the draw on the National Lottery YouTube channel was unavailable on Saturday evening.

The National Lottery operator changed for the first time in 30 years in 2024.

Camelot had run the lottery from its base in Watford since the game’s launch in 1994, but its license ended in January last year.

A 10-year license was given to new operator Allwyn, which has continued to oversee the draw from the former Camelot offices.

International operator Allwyn Entertainment is owned by Czech oil and gas tycoon Karel Komarek.