Two criminals have vowed to sue the National Lottery after being denied a £4million scratchcard win.
Mark Goodram, 36, and Jon-Ross Watson, 31, went on a four-day bender in London after landing their victory.
They posed for photos with fistfuls of £50 notes and magnums of bubbly.
But Camelot suspects the scratchcard was bought with a stolen bank card and is withholding the winnings while an investigation is carried out.
Neither of the pair is believed to have a bank account - making it impossible for them to own a debit card.
Goodram has 22 convictions and was jailed for eight months in last year for stealing from a garage. When arrested he had someone else’s bank card.
Meanwhile Watson was once jailed for 16 weeks for bank card fraud in Darwen, Lancs.
The winning scratchcard was bought in Waitrose in Clapham, south London.
Watson and Goodram deny any wrongdoing and insist their win is legitimate.
The duo have now hired barrister Henry Hedron to fight for their money.
He gave Camelot until Tuesday to pay up - but the money never arrived.
The lawyer told The Sun : "My clients have been very open and upfront about their upbringing in care homes and hard struggles in life, including previous substance misuse problems, which both have tried really hard to overcome.
“Camelot is in effect holding my clients ransom to their past.
“My clients consider Camelot are behaving in a culturally racist way by subjecting them to a level of scrutiny, checking and vetting, they would not otherwise do if the person who claimed the prize spoke in a posh accent."
Camelot said: "Security procedures form a key part of the process of validating a winning ticket to ensure we maintain the integrity of The National Lottery.
"Should there be any doubt surrounding the validity of a claim, we would undertake a thorough investigation to ensure we pay out the rightful ticketholder."
