Lottery chiefs may double ticket prices

The price of a National Lottery ticket could rise - and even double to £2 - under plans being considered by the operator Camelot, it emerged today.

Lottery executives are concerned that they are missing out on huge profits because the cost of playing the main game Lotto has not risen with inflation.

As sales of tickets for the game continue to fall, it is thought that a price rise could help to push the company's finances - and the money raised for good causes - back up.

Chief executive Dianne Thompson has said that she would like to see the price of a ticket rise.

She added that if the cost of a Lotto ticket had risen in line with inflation, it would cost more than £1.20 today.

A spokeswoman for Camelot denied that a price rise was on the horizon. However, she said that the issue of the cost of a ticket had been of concern for some time.

She said: "We do not have any plans to change the price of a ticket. This is an issue about which the Chief Executive has talked on a number of occasions, but that does not mean we are going to increase the price."

There are already a number of lottery games which cost more than £1, such as scratchcards. But there has always been concern that increasing the price of a Lotto ticket from a one coin transaction to a two or three coin purchase could put some players off.

There was speculation today that the price could even double from £1 to £2, although sources close to the company said such an increase would be extremely unlikely.