New operator Allwyn UK has promised to “breathe fresh life” into the draw, which has seen player numbers slide by eight million since 2012.

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The company wants to wind the clock back to the games’ glory days of the 1990s, when the lottery captured the country’s imagination.

The operator is considering plans to slash the ticket price back to a £1, and a new ad campaign will ask punters “Will You Be Next?”

There will also be more emphasis on individual games, such as Lotto and Set For Life.

Allwyn’s UK boss Andria Vidler said the changes would be gradual, with customers noticing changes over time.

The company will also introduce limits on how many scratch cards can be bought in shops and online.

There will also be an overhaul of some of the lottery’s retail in-store kit over the year ahead, with plans to launch a trial with a small number of retailers in February.

Ms Vidler said Allwyn has been looking to international markets for inspiration, with aims to launch new products, such as scratch card advent calendars, which are sold in the Netherlands.

She said: “In year one, there will be incremental changes every month, so that by the time all the tech transition has completed, there will be a lot more that’s visible.”

Today’s handover marks the first time the lottery has changed hands since it was launched nearly 30 years ago. It will also see Allwyn take control of what is the UK’s largest distributor of charity funds.

Deborah Burgess, 56, from Wigston, Leicestershire, has told of how she was forced to wait months to receive her lottery cash after she won the game.

She scooped the life-changing prize in the Lotto draw on August 19 last year.

But the medical records administrator rarely ever checks the app for updates.

She did not realise she had won anything for months after falling ill with chronic anaemia and having to spend time in hospital for treatment.

Due to her illness and then a holiday to recuperate, Ms Burgess did not check her emails for a while.