A mother-of-two who believed she had become a millionaire was left ‘gutted’ after being told by William Hill the jackpot win was a ‘glitch’.

Claire Ainsley thought she had more than £1 million playing the Jackpot Drop game on the William Hill app and got in touch with the gambling company, attaching screenshots as evidence of her winnings.

William Hill responded by requesting identification documents, which she provided and claims they told her the money would be in her bank in the coming days.

She said: ‘I was so excited, I had planned for my kids to go on holiday, to get a house for them when they get older.

‘I was thinking it was going to go into my bank in 72 hours.’

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Ms Ainsley continued: ‘They just wanted me to send my ID over, so I did. So I sent that all over, and they said, ‘Yes, it will be in your bank’. 

After trying to withdraw the money, her request was denied at the ‘last minute’ before receiving an email two days later from William Hill that her win was a ‘glitch’ and no payment would be paid.

Ms Ainsley told the programme she was ‘gutted’ after having already planned on what she would use the money on and hopes of a ‘better life’ for her children.

Claire Ainsley thought she had more than £1 million playing the Jackpot Drop game on the William Hill app

She emailed the gambling company, attaching screenshots as evidence of her winnings. However, her request was denied at the ‘last minute’ before receiving an email two days later from William Hill that her win was a ‘glitch’ and no payment would be paid

She has since found out that others have been led to believe they had won life-changing money on the app after joining a Facebook group of people who have experienced the same issue.

Ms Ainsley added: ‘A lot of people have won, and some people have taken the money out, some people haven’t. 

‘So I’m quite lucky it didn’t go into my account because I don’t have the money to pay it back.’  

A legal expert appearing alongside her explained that William Hill’s terms and conditions permit the company to void gameplay in the event of errors, but Ms Ainsley is demanding comprehensive evidence of the alleged technical fault. 

‘I feel like I deserve that money, they said I could have it, so it’s my money,’ Ms Ainsley.

A spokesperson for Evoke, William Hill’s owner, said: ‘During a routine review of platform activity, we identified an issue affecting the Jackpot Drop game which temporarily resulted in incorrect sums being credited to players’ balances and withdrawals being processed incorrectly. 

‘Whilst we quickly identified and resolved this issue, for a short period of time funds were erroneously credited to some customer accounts that were not correctly generated through valid or properly functioning gameplay. 

‘We have contacted relevant customers to clarify the issue, and are in the process of retrieving the funds in line with our standard terms and conditions. 

‘We have been grateful for our customers’ understanding on this matter and apologise for the inconvenience caused.’