RECORD ONLINE SALES FOR UK NATIONAL LOTTERY

Internet sales of UK National Lottery tickets have grown by 31.8 percent over the past decade to GBP 488.2 million, Camelot, which operates the lottery for the British government, reported last week.

The operator revealed that the past year has produced overall ticket sales that are the best in ten years, reaching GBP 5.14 billion, a year-on-year increase of GBP 182.8 million.

In the year to March 31 2009, Camelot completed a major upgrade as it headed for its third contract renewal, and managed to boost awards to charity by GBP 25.8 million when compared to the same period a year ago. Charities received GBP 1.37 billion in grants from the lottery this year.

Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive for Camelot, commented: “This has been an incredibly busy landmark year for Camelot and the National Lottery. The fact that we completed the largest National Lottery upgrade of its kind in record time is testament to the hard work of all Camelot staff and puts us in an excellent position as we begin the third licence and countdown to London 2012 [the Olympic Games in London].

“Over the coming year we will be looking to consolidate our position as the most cost-effective lottery operator in Europe, introducing further innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver for players and the good causes in the next ten years.”

Camelot recently launched a new National Lottery website featuring a redesigned interface and a host of new functions including a game selector tool, dedicated results checker and opt-in alerts service. It announced that it is planning a host of innovations for later this year including a new-look retail play station, further three-dimensional online games and a selection of titles based on well-known television quiz shows.

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