A few retailers have rung wondering whether getting National Lottery Scratchcards is a first step to getting the full monty. The short answer is maybe. But unlikely for most. We’ll get to the full answer in a minute.

Mohommad Khan, who runs a Best-One in Harton, Washington, rang to ask if his average takings of £300 a week on Scratchcards might lead to him being given a terminal (even though he adds that initially Camelot had set him a target of £400). His question: “How many transactions do I have to do before they will give me a terminal?” I said that it was rather like asking how long is a piece of string. But I put it to Camelot anyway.

A spokeswoman says: “Becoming a National Lottery Scratchcard outlet doesn’t mean that an outlet will automatically be ‘upgraded’ or offered a full terminal - even if they exceed their weekly sales targets. That’s because we only have a finite number of full terminals, so need to site them in locations where we believe there is the most demand for the full product range.

“This enables us to fulfil our overarching objective of maximising returns to National Lottery-funded projects. However, where we consider that a standalone Scratchcard outlet would be more suitable for the full range - and provided there are terminals available - the retailer might well be offered one.”

I’m sure every retailer in the land would like a terminal, but that really would be spreading it too thin for all concerned. And, equally, every retailer who does have a terminal doesn’t want next door to have one, too.