Sometimes I go for a month of Sundays without hearing a murmur about Camelot, but this will be the third complaint in a row.

James Neary, who runs Neary’s General Store in Rossendale, Lancashire, and has been in retailing for 40 years, describes himself as a ‘day one’ lottery retailer: that’s how long he has had a terminal.

But he says he is not getting his just rewards for taking part in Camelot’s Site+Stock+Sell incentive scheme.

The scheme gives out ‘gongs’ for following best practice. A score of 8 out of 10 gets you a bronze; 9 out 10 a silver; and 10 out of 10 a gold.  The rewards are £10, £15 and £25 respectively. James says he has always taken part, always gets 10 out of 10 when evaluated, but now receives none of the £25 rewards he used to earn every six weeks. In fact, he has had none for the past nine months.

He has asked his rep why not? But says he cannot get a straight answer, and says Camelot is still giving out awards because there are congratulatory messages on the National Lottery retailer website.

A Camelot spokesperson expressed regret and says that colleagues have been speaking directly to James about the issue.

But she adds: “It’s worth bearing in mind that Site+Stock+Sell is an additional initiative. So, while our representatives will endeavour to visit or call a store about once every 13 weeks to conduct a Site+Stock+Sell evaluation, visits are made at our discretion. From time to time, key business priorities may take precedence and, therefore, we cannot guarantee their frequency.”