Lottery bosses have insisted Saturday night's draw will go ahead � despite a technical fault that has hit machines across the UK.
Lottery bosses have insisted Saturday night's draw will go ahead - despite a technical fault that has hit machines across the UK.
Lotto players trying to buy their tickets have been turned away after a "network communications issue" brought down the system.
And visitors to the National Lottery website on Saturday evening were greeted with the message: "Our Draw Games are closed."
Popular games including Hot Picks, Dream Number, and the main Lotto draw were all unavailable to gambling fans.
The site was also intermittently unavailable due to high volumes of traffic.
However, those who bought their tickets earlier in the day will still see the draw go ahead.
A spokesperson for Camelot, which administers the National Lottery, confirmed: "Due to a network communications issue on Saturday afternoon, players may have experienced difficulties buying National Lottery tickets in-store or via The National Lottery website.
"The issue is currently being resolved. In the meantime we would like to apologise to anyone affected - and reassure those people with tickets that the draws will go ahead as usual."
