Six Land Rover workers missed out on a Lottery win after they failed to buy a ticket – because the lotto machine at their local shop was BROKEN.
The syndicate, who all work in a car factory paint shop, always pick the same numbers – 01,08,15,21,32 and 39 – every Saturday.
But the day before the draw on February 23 the machine at their local shop was broken so they didn’t bother buying a ticket.
The following day the friends, who worked at the factory in Solihull, West Mids., watched in horror as five of their numbers plus the bonus ball come up.
The winning numbers for that Saturday’s draw were 01,08,15,21,32,39 with the bonus ball being 32.
If they had bought their usual ticket they would have scooped a whopping £173,400 – £28,900 each.
Today a source at the factory said: ”They’re gutted.
”The worker who went to buy the ticket had already told the other members of the syndication that he had not been able to so before the draw was made.
”Apparently he had struggled to buy it because of a broken machine at a shop, but asked if anybody else wanted to go to buy the ticket.
”I think they take it in turns so it is never down to one person.
”They decided to leave it that week but the numbers came up.
”They knew the numbers, so they could see what they would have won.
”I don’t think I would have checked, I wouldn’t want to know I had lost nearly £30,000.
”What you could do with that kind of cash doesn’t bear thinking about.”
A spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover said: ”This is not a work-related issue and has not caused problems.”