Long lines for Lotto

Press, 23 July 1987, Page 6

Long lines for Lotto

From front pays

The Lotto terminal in the Chief Post Office in Cathedral Square had processed more than 500 sales by mid-afternoon. The supervisor, Mr Mike Small, said his staff would have been happy with 300 sales on the first day. The busiest time had been between midday and 2 p.m. The queue at that time stretched past the electoral counter and interfered with people who had waited until the last day to put their names on the electoral rolls.

A few people had problems filling out the tickets, selecting either not enough or too many numbers on their boards, said Mr Small.

A large number of people telephoned the post office to ask where the Lotto outlets were in Christchurch.

"They seemed to think that the post office was running Lotto. We referred them to either the Lotteries Commission or the advertisement in this morning’s newspaper," said Mr Small. The Target Bookshop in Armagh Street was just as busy as the post office. The shop’s owner, Mr Tony Grubb, said his sales were at least 25 per cent higher than he had predicted.

Most people spent $5 to $lO on the game but several spent $5O and one man bought $2OO of tickets.