The lottery that lets you decide

A rival national lottery is to offer players a chance to win a million without supporting 'loony' grants or white elephant projects.

The Chariotlottery - due to be launched in October - will let players choose exactly which charities benefit from their £1 tickets.

Like Camelot's main Lotto game, the Internet-based draw will involve picking six numbers out of a possible 49.

Jackpots will be smaller - a maximum of £1million a week - but organisers say the chances of winning will be higher.

The City businessmen behind Chariotlottery believe their recipe will draw in players who are disillusioned with the way National Lottery money is distributed to 'good causes'.

Dubious grants have included £340,000 to a group which helped asylum seekers and even suspected terrorists challenge deportation orders, and £270,000 to help Peruvian farmers breed fatter guinea pigs for food.

War veterans and medical charities, however, were refused grants, prompting a public backlash which saw ticket sales fall by £1million a week.

As Camelot has a monopoly on paper-based lotteries in the UK, Chariotlottery will operate as a 'society lottery' under different rules which allow a maximum of £2million in ticket sales for each draw.

Chief executive Craig Freeman said: 'Each week we will run five separate games benefiting five separate charities, each getting 30p from every £1 spent on their game. Maximum ticket sales will be £10million, with £3million for good causes - £600,000 each.

'Charities will rotate, each featuring up to five times a year, and players will be able to see exactly who they are supporting.

'We hope to attract people who want to play a lottery and see their money go to the Royal British Legion, for example, rather than a Peruvian guinea pig farmer.'

Unlike Camelot, the Chariotlottery will not have to pay 12 per cent duty to the Treasury.

But it will take 11p in the pound as profit, compared to just 0.5p for Camelot.

Instead of buying tickets in shops, Chariotlottery players will register on the game's website, choose a draw and pay by debit card.

Society lotteries are not allowed 'rollover' jackpots, so if nobody picks all six numbers a computer will find the punter with the closest selection. The organisers say that slashes the jackpot odds from one in 14million to one in 666,000.

Camelot said yesterday it was not afraid of competition and insisted that its unlimited jackpots were a key factor in attracting players.

A spokesman said: 'We currently return around £ 23million a week to good causes and the National Lottery has raised over £15.8billion since its launch in 1994.'