After mistakenly thinking that he won the grand prize, the supermarket staff returned empty-handed

Supermarket worker Dean Smethurst thinks he's been given life-changing cash - until he discovers the hard facts.

Dean Smethurst was shocked when he was told he had won the lottery when he checked his ticket at a local supermarket.

The 32-year-old from the UK gave his national lottery ticket to tesco staff on May 8 - and was notified by an employee he had won, but she was unable to give him the prize at the scene. An automatic message flashed on her screen.

Instead, he was told to contact Camelot, the lottery operator whose website says winners receive more than 50,000 pounds ($93,000) in cash.

However, the company's phone lines were already closed at night, so Mr Smethurst could not immediately confirm his victory.

But that didn't stop him from spending the night uncorking some champagne and telling friends and family about his good fortune.

But the next day, he received shocking news.

After calling the organisation, it turned out that tesco staff had received word that Mr Smethurst was checking his airfare because the lottery was going on - not because he had won the big prize and could not pay cash.

In one devastating blow, he thought the $93,000 he was about to sell would turn out to be just $11, as he revealed he had only three "lucky dips" for $3.73 each.

Mr Smethurst, a supermarket manager who has been playing The lottery for six years, told The Mirror he had planned how to spend his winnings The night before learning The hard facts.

"I didn't sleep because I was so excited. "My house is like a construction site right now, so that's the first thing I decide to spend money on," he told the publication.

"Then I decided to send my family to a luxury vacation in Barbados."

He said he didn't believe he was unlucky at first.

"I asked [Camelot's representative] if she was sure, and then I asked to speak to the manager. "I'm definitely gut," he said.

"I never thought about checking my Numbers, and I don't think a company as big as Camelot might get it wrong, I don't understand."

But a spokesman for Camelot told Metro that there were several reasons why cash rewards could not be paid at the store, and that the message on the screen when Mr Smethurst checked his ticket did not mean he had won the prize.

"In this case, players tried to apply for prizes during the 'draw break' when national lottery sales were suspended while the draw was made," he said.

"The prize money couldn't be paid at the time - tickets were still entering the 'live' raffle - so print out the proof sheet.

"To be clear, this universal bill is used in many scenarios - it's not just for premium prizes."

Mr. Smethurst said he was disturbed by the situation.

"I just watched TV and my mother gave me some comfortable food, which was not very comfortable," he said.