This is all about sums, and most readers who have been following this column over the years will know my sums don’t add up to much, so I am just going to report this as ‘He said’ and then ‘They said’. I’m sure it will make sense to all lottery operators.

Iain Lyall, who runs Glan Conwy General Stores in Conwy, wondered whether anyone else had noticed that Camelot is effectively reducing retailer incomes.

He writes: “I have just had a visit from the new rep for North Wales who left a copy of the ‘Notice of amendment to your Retailer Agreement’. These come into effect at some time in autumn when the cost of a Lotto goes to £2 and the prize for three numbers increases to £25.

“What they have slipped in is an increase in the minimum threshold on draw-based prizes that attract commission from £10.01 to £25.01. This means that retailers will still not receive any commission on payouts of three numbers on Lotto. Not only that, but any commission we would have earned on other draw-based prizes paid between £10.01 and £25.01 on the EuroMillions and Thunderball also disappear.”

But Camelot says it isn’t quite so. A spokesperson replies: “We can reassure Mr Lyall that retailers do not face having their incomes reduced as a result of the forthcoming changes to Lotto. On the contrary, our retailers will still earn 5% commission on all sales of draw-based games - and so will have a fantastic opportunity to boost their income based on the higher ticket price.

“Mr Lyall is right to point out that there will be a slight change to the commission threshold for paying out draw-based game prizes in-store - and this was reported in the retail trade press back in January when we made our initial announcement about the planned changes to Lotto.

“This change will simply reflect the new prize level for matching three numbers on Lotto - and means that retailers will receive commission (unchanged at 1%) for paying out prizes on draw-based games of £25.01 and over, rather than on prizes of £10.01 and over (as is the case now).

“There are only two draw-based game prize tiers affected by this change in threshold - one on Thunderball and one on EuroMillions - and any loss of commission from no longer paying out prizes for these two tiers will be more than offset by the net benefit retailers can expect to enjoy from the increased overall sales they will be making as a result of the changes to Lotto - and the subsequent increase to their bottom lines.”