It was the moment they had dreamed of - a winning National Lottery ticket, and not just for £10.

As head of a work syndicate, Warren Allitt was overjoyed to discover one of the 130 lucky-dip lines put on for Wednesday's double roll-over draw had scooped a big win.

While it was not quite the jackpot, he had matched five out of six numbers - a win which would net the nine syndicate members a total of £2,500 between them.

But that joy soon turned sour when Mr Allitt realised the ticket had been put on for the wrong day.

"It is the biggest win we have ever had and my colleagues were very excited when I told them - now they feel fed up and cheated out of the win," said the 30-year-old supervisor at Bramley firm Exeeco.

"We worked out we would have about £300 each - enough to do a bit of shopping. I was going to buy some new garden toys for my little girl Maisie."

Mr Allitt's wife Helen bought the tickets from the Co-op store in Undercliffe, Bradford, at about 6.30pm on Wednesday.

She asked for 130 lucky-dip tickets for Wednesday's draw, paid and threw the tickets into the glove compartment of her car.

About 11.30pm that night the couple checked the tickets and discovered the win.

Mr Allitt, of Manscombe Road, Allerton, Bradford, said: "We had won two lots of £10 and £84 for four numbers, as well as the five numbers 12, 18, 39, 43 and 45.

"The next day I went to the central post office in Leeds and they paid out on three of the four tickets.

"The girl behind the counter said no to the fourth ticket. She showed me the date on the ticket was for Saturday's draw. It was the only ticket which was for Saturday and not Wednesday. As you can imagine, I did not feel too happy about it."

Mr Allitt desperately phoned Camelot, which runs the Lottery, and the Co-op store to find out what to do.

"The mistake could have been the machine that did not read the instructions right or it could have been operator error," said Mr Allitt. "I have been given a verbal apology by the Co-op's solicitor, who said it was down to me to check the ticket. Camelot said the same thing."

A spokesman for Camelot said: "Players have a responsibility to check their tickets before they leave the retailer. They then have two hours after buying the ticket to go back and have anything amended."

Peter Marks, chief executive of Yorkshire Co-operative Ltd, said: "When I have looked into the facts I will make a decision on what to do in the circumstances. We will also be talking to Camelot."