A mother is set to receive a £12 million lottery jackpot after her winning ticket was mistakenly thrown in the bin by a shopkeeper. The mix-up threatened to cost her the life-changing prize entirely, highlighting the risks of retail errors when it comes to handling valuable lottery tickets and the steps operators must take to verify and honour winning claims.

The full article text was not available beyond the headline, so further specific details — such as when and where the incident occurred, how the error was uncovered, or how the ticket was eventually retrieved and verified — could not be confirmed. The case is nonetheless a striking example of how a moment's carelessness nearly denied a substantial windfall before it was ultimately resolved in the winner's favour.